Back Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 German Fixed-term Parliaments Act French Undang-Undang Parlemen Masa Jabatan Sah 2011 ID 2011年議会任期固定法 Japanese 2011년 고정임기 의회법 Korean 2011年定期國會法令 Chinese
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act to make provision about the dissolution of Parliament and the determination of polling days for parliamentary general elections; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2011 c. 14 |
| Introduced by | Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister (Commons) Lord Wallace of Tankerness, Advocate General for Scotland (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 September 2011 |
| Commencement | 15 September 2011 (whole act) |
| Repealed | 24 March 2022 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amends | Succession to the Crown Act 1707 |
| Repeals/revokes | Septennial Act 1715 |
| Repealed by | Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 |
| Relates to | Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 |
Status: Repealed | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
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The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) (FTPA) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which, for the first time, set in legislation a default fixed election date for general elections in the United Kingdom. It remained in force until 2022, when it was repealed. Since then, as before its passage, elections are required by law to be held at least once every five years, but can be called earlier if the prime minister advises the monarch to exercise the royal prerogative to do so. Prime ministers have often employed this mechanism to call an election before the end of their five-year term, sometimes fairly early in it. Critics have said this gives an unfair advantage to the incumbent prime minister, allowing them to call a general election at a time that suits them electorally. While it was in force, the FTPA removed this longstanding power of the prime minister.[1][2]
Under the FTPA, general elections were automatically scheduled for the first Thursday in May of the fifth year after the previous general election, or the fourth year if the date of the previous election was before the first Thursday in May. However, the FTPA also provided two ways to call an election earlier. One was a Commons vote of no confidence in the government, which still required only a simple majority of voters. The other was a vote explicitly in favour of an earlier election, which required a qualified majority of two-thirds of the total membership of the Commons.[3] The first election under the FTPA was held on 7 May 2015. An early election was held in 2017, after Prime Minister Theresa May received approval to call it by a two-thirds majority.[4]
Under the FTPA, the following general election was scheduled for 2022, but the Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019, passed with Opposition support, circumvented the FTPA, providing for an election on 12 December 2019 while otherwise leaving the FTPA in place. The Conservative Party entered the election with a manifesto pledge to repeal the FTPA.[5] The resulting Conservative majority government, in fulfilment of its commitment, published on 1 December 2020 a draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill to repeal the FTPA and revive the royal prerogative power of dissolving Parliament as it existed before the act.[6] The repealing legislation was formally announced in the Queen's Speech of 11 May 2021,[7] and granted royal assent as the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 on 24 March 2022.[8]
- ^ "Labour fears Johnson is preparing for a 2023 election". Financial Times. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 introduced by David Cameron's coalition government removed the longstanding power of the prime minister to call a general election and instead created what should normally be a five-year period between polls.
- ^ "Is axing fixed-term parliaments a good idea?". BBC News. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
In 2011, the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) set the length of time between general elections at five years - and transferred the power to call an early election from the prime minister to MPs.
- ^ Alastair Meeks (5 May 2015). "New Rules. Britain's Changing Constitution". PoliticalBetting.com. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ^ "Strengthen Our Hand in Europe? No, a Landslide for May Would Weaken It". The Guardian. 2 May 2017.
- ^ "Get Brexit Done: the Conservative and Unionist Party Manifesto 2019" (PDF). Conservative and Unionist Party. p. 48. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
- ^ "Government to fulfil manifesto commitment and scrap Fixed-term Parliaments Act". gov.uk. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ^ Blewett, Sam (11 May 2021). "A brief look at the Bills included in the Queen's Speech". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Kelly, Richard (28 March 2022). "Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022: Progress through Parliament". House of Commons Library.