Theresa May's ability to call a snap general election highlights the inbuilt tensions of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, write Alison Foster QC and Tom Tabori.
On 18 April, the prime minister announced her intention to hold a general election on 8 June 2017. The next day, MPs voted overwhelmingly in support by a margin of 509. The practical implications include:
- The usual 'wash-up' procedure by which the government and opposition agree on essential or non-controversial bills to be expedited before parliament is dissolved – whereupon non-enacted public bills will fail.
- Select committee chairs elected after the 2010 election may have their terms foreshortened, as none may serve for more than two parliaments (or eight years continuously, if shorter).
- The Manchester Gorton by-election on 4 May will likely be cancelled, otherwise the winner would be elected to a parliament that had ceased to exist the day before.
- Purdah, restricting civil service action pre-election, began at midnight on 21 April.
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