Fixed Term Parliaments Act.

Morrison, James

Abstract

Was there ever a more hollow and impotent piece of legislation than the UK's Fixed Term Parliaments Act? Trumpeted by the Conservative-led coalition as a way of stopping opportunist prime ministers ever again calling snap elections to capitalize on hefty poll leads - by complicating simple confidence votes in ways that prompted Labour to condemn it as a constitutional stitch-up - within six short years of receiving Royal Assent it has proved itself wholly incapable of doing any such thing. When it suited David Cameron to build a protective cordon around his unholy alliance with the Liberal Democrats, the Act was a useful confection: a road-block solid enough to stop either partner provoking an early return to the polls, by swerving out of the ministerial motorcade in a petulant huff. But the fact it could be so casually swept aside as soon as the Tories' stars were back in the ascendancy - like a trifling traffic cone in the residents' parking bay otherwise reserved for them outside Number 10 Downing Street - shows it wasn't worth the statute-book it was written on. We should repeal this zombie law at the earliest opportunity.

Citation

MORRISON, J. 2017. Fixed Term Parliaments Act. Posted on the Oxford University Press blog [online]. 31 May 2017. Available from: https://blog.oup.com/2017/05/fixed-term-parliaments-act/

• Digital Artefact Type: Website Content
• Online Publication Date: May 31, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 1, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 1, 2017
• Keywords: Fixed term Parliaments Act 2011; UK government; UK Parliament
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/2342
• Publisher URL: https://blog.oup.com/2017/05/fixed-term-parliaments-act/