Dissolved parliament

[d000hg]

What happens if something important goes down right now? What difference does a dissolved parliament mean - is it only about not passing laws or are there other differences too?

[AtW]

I think you are asking too many questions.

[BolshieBastard]

What happens if something important goes down right now? What difference does a dissolved parliament mean - is it only about not passing laws or are there other differences too?

The Prime Minister remains Prime Minister until he tenders his and his governments resignation to the queen after the election results are known. so the PM and Government still run the country until then.

Disolving Parliament and calling an election doesnt terminate the PM or Government.

[HairyArsedBloke]

The PM is the PM until Queenie asks someone else to do the job.

Expect something to happen Tuesday or Wednesday so that the snot goblin can invoke the civil contingencies act and remain in power.

[BolshieBastard]

The PM is the PM until Queenie asks someone else to do the job.

Expect something to happen Tuesday or Wednesday so that the snot goblin can invoke the civil contingencies act and remain in power.

The Queen cant ask someone else to form a government until after the election and the PM has tendered his resignation. If no party has an overall majority, the PM can attempt to form a coalition government. If his party is the largest but with no overall majority, he need not tender his resignation and can try and lead a minority government.

[centurian]

Generalising a lot here but....

Civil servants are basically running the country on autopilot while MP's are campaigning.

Gordon Brown retains executive power on behalf of the soverign, so he can take executive decisions (i.e. day to day decisions) that don't require the consent of parliament

What has been 'lost' is the legislative power - the ability to pass new laws, but this is rarely required in the event of an emergency anyway.

[BolshieBastard]

Generalising a lot here but....

Civil servants are basically running the country on autopilot while MP's are campaigning.

Gordon Brown retains executive power on behalf of the soverign, so he can take executive decisions (i.e. day to day decisions) that don't require the consent of parliament

What has been 'lost' is the legislative power - the ability to pass new laws, but this is rarely required in the event of an emergency anyway.

Er no they dont. The PM and Government stay in existence until after the election and it is known whether the party which formed the last government is returned to power either in its own right or as a minority government or coalition. Civil Servant never 'run' the country.

For further reading, get a copy of 'The British Constitution and Politics by Macmillan Press but below tells you all you need to know.

Dissolution of Parliament: 12 April 2010 | Parliament News

Who runs the country while there is no Parliament?

The Government does not resign when Parliament is dissolved. Essential business must carry on and government ministers remain in charge of their departments until after the election result is known.

However, the Government suspends any advertising campaigns and doesn't make major policy decisions or announcements. This used to be known as 'purdah' but is now usually called the pre-election period.

[AtW]

Dissolved parliament

Just in case Banksy's is reading this sad forum - this thread is a new idea for your net work: it should be like that acid thing Joker got into in the first Batman...

[Gonzo]

In modern, western, democratic systems there are three branches of power.

The executive - this is the government who run things day to day and decide to introduce laws to change things.
The legislature - this is the part that decides whether changes to the law will happen or not.
The judiciary - this is the part that decides whether laws are being broken or not.

The USA provides a rather fine example of how to completely separate these three.

In the UK things are more mixed up because the executive is usually formed by the people that control the legislature. The judiciary is not completely independent of government either (although there have been some recent changes on this).

At the moment in the UK, it is just the legislature that is missing and is up for re-election, the executive still exists and the country is still being run.

If there is no one person/party in control of the legislature after the election, as is looking likely, that is when things will get interesting.

[centurian]

Er no they dont.

But what I said describes what happens in reality - which I admit isn't quite what the constitution might say.

While ministers are off campaigning, the civil service is basically ticking over on autopilot - essentially running themselves.

However, if any major decisions are required, then the PM/ministers retain the executive power and can direct as required.