What is the fixed term parliaments act?
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was a UK law that set general elections at fixed five-year intervals. It took away the Prime Minister's power to call an early election at will. Early elections needed a two-thirds vote of MPs or a lost confidence vote. It was repealed in 2022.
The Act was passed by the coalition government formed in 2010. It gave the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats confidence that neither partner could trigger an election for its own advantage. It set the first fixed election for May 2015. Under the Act, a government losing a no-confidence vote had 14 days to win a new confidence vote before an election was triggered.
In practice it did not stop early elections. In April 2017 MPs voted by more than two-thirds to hold a snap election that June. In 2019, with Parliament deadlocked over Brexit, MPs rejected early elections several times. A special one-off law was then passed to hold an election in December 2019.
Many critics said the Act made deadlock harder to break. The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 repealed it. The Prime Minister can again ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament at any time, with a maximum term of five years. Supporters of fixed terms argue they stop leaders from gaming the election date. The 2022 Act also says courts cannot review the use of the power to dissolve Parliament.
Some on the left supported fixed terms to stop governments choosing a date that suits them, though many backed repeal after 2019.
Most of the right backed repeal, arguing the Act caused paralysis and that governments need flexibility.
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Is the Fixed-term Parliaments Act still in force?
No. It was repealed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.
Why was the Fixed-term Parliaments Act repealed?
Critics said it caused deadlock in 2019 and did not prevent early elections anyway.
When is the next UK general election due?
Parliament must be dissolved by July 2029, so an election must happen by August 2029.