There are different ways in which ‘confidence’ can be voted on. The rules around confidence motions and early elections have now reverted to the system in place prior to the passage of the FTPA. However, the FTPA was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, meaning that it no longer has effect. This changed with the passage of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) in 2011, which set out and formalised a narrower range of ways for an early election to be triggered – including the passage of a specifically-worded motion of no confidence. It was strongly expected that a government would resign or seek an election if it lost confidence. Historically, this central requirement to have confidence has been guided by constitutional convention. Governments who have not won a majority at a general election or who lose their majority through the course of a parliament might either form a coalition or a ‘confidence and supply’ agreement with other parties to maintain confidence, but minority governments can still govern as long as the Commons has not voted no confidence in them.Ĭonfidence also symbolises the importance of government being continuously held to account by parliament, which can ultimately remove government from office. Prime ministers are appointed on the basis of their ability to command confidence. Majority governments are assumed to have confidence through the number of seats they hold in parliament. Why does confidence matter?Īs the Cabinet Manual states: ‘The government of the day holds office by virtue of its ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons’. In between elections, losing confidence happens through particular votes, known as confidence motions, or if a government determines that it can no longer command the confidence of the Commons (for example, if it loses a vote on a major policy issue that is a core part of its agenda).
Governments do not always have to prove they continue to hold confidence, but governments are expected to resign or seek an election if they clearly lose the confidence of the House of Commons. This means that they are able to command a majority in the Commons on key matters.
UK governments continue in office only as long as they have the ‘confidence’ or support of the House of Commons. What does ‘confidence’ mean in parliamentary terms?
0 kommentar(er)
