I can’t recall where I read this, but is talk of Blair resigning and/or not trying for another term? (When is his term up, anyway?) I hope some SDopers might have followed this. Is it fact or speculation? - Jinx
Blair has said he will serve one more term if elected.
[Moderator Hat ON]
Factual questions go in General Questions.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
Excuse me, but keep your hat and pants on! I am asking for the facts about what Blair has said and has not said. That’s the fact, Jack!
Just the fax, ma’am!
- Jinx
Prime Ministers don’t have terms. They serve as long as they have the confidence of the Commons, or they choose to resign, unless the Queen sacks them.
They may not be “terms” in the same sense as US Presidential terms (i.e. for a fixed period of four years unless something drastic occurs), but they certainly have distinguishable periods in office that are usually referred to as “terms”.
A given Parliament, and hence PM, exists from one General Election to the next, and these occur every five years at maximum. A sitting PM can call a General Election before the five years is up, presumably if s/he feels that there is an especially strong chance of winning and thus resetting the “five year clock”. Alternatively, a “Vote of No Confidence” in Parliament can trigger a General Election (as you correctly point out, Northern Piper).
Before the General Election occurs, the Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II at the moment) dissolves Parliament. If the PM’s party wins a majority in the election, the PM is retained with no further ceremony (i.e. no inauguration as in the case of a US President at the beginning of his 2nd term). However, the PM would be said to be “starting his/her next term in office”.
For example, Margaret Thatcher is referred to as (amongst other things) a “three-term Prime Minister” since she won General Elections in 1979, 1983, and 1987.