Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Thursday 24th March 2016

Majority governments are far from untouchable. An early election may be called if a motion of no confidence is passed in the House of Commons and no motion of confidence is passed within 14 days.

The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, which came into force in 2011 under the Coalition Government, removed the power to set the general election date from the Government and gave a power to the House of Commons to call an early general election in certain circumstances.

An early general election can only be called under the Act if either a motion (as worded in section 2(2) of the Act) that there shall be an early parliamentary general election is passed by the House of Commons with at least two thirds in favour of the motion; or if a motion of no confidence (as worded in section 2(4) of the Act) is passed by the House of Commons and the House does not pass a motion of confidence (as worded in section 2(5) of the Act) in the Government or an alternative Government within 14 days. Aside from these triggers there is no way to replace the Government through an early General Election.

The Act means majority Governments are far from untouchable, and marked a significant and unprecedented transfer of power from the Government to the House of Commons. As such, it was felt appropriate during the passage of the Act to include a statutory requirement for the Prime Minister to appoint a committee to review the operation of the Act between 1 June 2020 and 30 November 2020. The Government has no plans to review or change the current arrangements prior to that review.

Cabinet Office