June 11, 2004

11:05 AM

UK elections: looking at this thread I was wondering how elections work in the UK. From that post it sounds like not all MPs are elected at the same time, but this page on the Electoral Commission isn't very helpful. [MI]
posted by rhyax to (8 comments total)

So, is it all at once? How often do they actually occur, 5 years? how variable is it? Do people ever get upset that there hasn't been an election in a while?
posted by rhyax at 11:07 AM on June 11, 2004

That thread is about local elections, not elections to the Commons. Mayors and city councils and stuff like that.

For the Commons:

is it all at once?

Yes. With the exception of by-elections, or special elections, when an MP drops dead or retires or otherwise leaves office.

How often do they actually occur, 5 years?

When called by Parliament (which means by the ruling party/coalition), but no more than 5 years since the previous one. Timing of elections is very much a strategic choice of the governing party. It can vary from just about the full 5 years (if you know you're going to lose your majority in the next election) to less than a year if you think you can create or expand a majority.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:30 AM on June 11, 2004

There is a general election every 5 years maximum (sooner if called by the government) where all MPs are elected and a party with a majority forms the new government. In between there may be the occasional by-election for a seat where someone dies or stands down.

Yesterdays elections were local and were for seats on local councils (town, city, etc) not for parliament and traditionally have a low turnout. These do not always happen for the whole country at the same time, though I'm not sure on what basis this is .
Also in the UK yesterday were the elections for members of the European Parliament and for the Mayor of London.

The last General election was in spring 2001 so the next will be 2006 at the latest, but is more likely to be next year.
Because the date of a general election is not set until a few weeks before the actual date there is always a long period of hypothetical debate (which has already started) but a relatively short campaign.
posted by devon at 11:30 AM on June 11, 2004

The voting is always on a Thursday too - all elections I think, never figured out why
posted by selton at 11:36 AM on June 11, 2004

Also important to remember is that the Prime mInister is designated as being the leader of the largest party in the House of Commons (our 'Upper' House, the House of Lords, along with the Monarch - currently Liz Windsor - have much less power than imagined).

The leader of the largest party can change at any time considered appropriate and according to the rules drawn up by that party.

So, in November 1990 when Mrs. Thatcher 'left office' as PM (politically assassinated by the typically callous Parliamentary Conservative Party), she remained an MP for some time, before being kicked upstairs to the Lords as Baroness Thatcher. The party then selected John Major as its leader, who had previously been elected as an mp - not PM - by his constituents, and not by the nation. The Conservatives were, to everyones surprise, re - elected less than two years later, and governed for 5 whole years through very slim majorities, multiple scandals and rebellions. John Major became the second longest serving PM of the 20th Century, after his mentor Mrs T.

You would not believe how glad we were to see the back of the bastards after an almost unprecedented 18 years of unbroken Tory rule. As is often the case, we are now heartily sick of our 'liberator', and the Liberal Democrats (my first choice in national elections and the only group i've ever campaigned for) seem, to my pleasure, by the evidence in the other thread, to have good prospects.

PS: The Euro elections seem to mean v. little to most folk, tho' it wont stop the 'Brussells enforces straight bananas' headlines which foment euro distress across the land. The Brits have a healthy disdain for pols - until riled.
posted by dash_slot- at 6:53 PM on June 11, 2004

It is also worth noting that while elections for MPs and for councillors are on a 'first past the post' basis, the European elections are run on a system of proportional representation.

Additionally, the local elections run on Thursday were not for all local councils, they occurred only in England and Wales and applied only to 166 councils out of the total in E&W. A map showing areas which had local elections and who won is available here.

The European elections were UK wide and involved all contituencies. Representation is on the following basis;
Scotland 7
Wales 4
Northern Ireland 3
England 64

More info on European Elections here.

I'd agree with dash that these elections tend to not to mean a lot to the average voter but add that they do present a chance for the electorate to give whoever's in government a warning prior to any oncoming general election.
posted by biffa at 4:10 AM on June 12, 2004

There are 658 seats in the House of Commons, each representing a region of the UK. An MP is elected to represent that region on the first past the post system, no namby-pamby proportional representation for us. The party with the most seats rules the country with their leader becoming Prime Minister and giving all us poor sods the shitty end of the stick. The PM selects a cabinet with each member having responsibility for a different department, and that department also has junior ministers and is run by a colossal number of civil servants (who aren't elected and are expected to be politically impartial). The opposition also have a shadow cabinet whose job is to disagree with their opposite number at every available opportunity. If the Home Secretary is speaking then the Shadow Home Secretary must sit in front of him shaking his head vigorously making a strange deep baaing sound unnerving him.

There are a few interesting peculiarities. Scotland has it's own parliament that decides policy for Scotland, but their MP's are also members of the House of Commons so get to decide on policy for England too. Recently when there was a controversial vote on tuition fees, Blair only won the vote by Scottish Labour MP's voting in favour. This was despite the fact that the same MP's had voted against similar policy for Scotland. Some might say that this is a slightly unfair situation.

In Nothern Ireland even though Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA, if you will) are elected to the House they never take their seats. This is because they refuse to take the oath that requires them to swear alligence to the Queen. Apparently having your fingers crossed behind your back doesn't quite cut it.

The PM basically has the powers of a monarch. When Blair held a vote on the war on Iraq he had no requirement to do so and could simply have declared war without resorting to democracy and piffling things like that.

Actually I've just found a rather splendid document that on the surface seems to cover it all rather well.
posted by dodgygeezer at 9:10 AM on June 12, 2004

dodgy geezer:

It's not quite like that, or it may be that I don't get your phrasing.

Scotland has it's own parliament that decides policy for Scotland, but their MP's are also members of the House of Commons so get to decide on policy for England too.

The MSP's go to the Scottish parliament. A different set of MPs are elected in Scotland that sit in Westminster, and it is these that are entitled to vote on some English only matters.

Recently when there was a controversial vote on tuition fees, Blair only won the vote by Scottish Labour MP's voting in favour. This was despite the fact that the same MP's had voted against similar policy for Scotland.

This is therefore incorrect, tho' I'll bet they were tempted to vote against (probably bribed with pork of one kind or another).

Some might say that this is a slightly unfair situation.

Yes - the constitutional conundrum was described as the West Lothian Question by Tam Dalyell some time ago.
posted by dash_slot- at 5:02 PM on June 12, 2004