# When was the last time a UK general election was called quickly after a new Prime Minister took office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709 "2022-10-24T15:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/1 "2022-10-24T15:51:31Z")
Asking a factual question, not for political opinions. It’s happened several times over the past few decades that a UK Prime Minister has resigned, and been replaced by a new Prime Minister from his/her party. When was the last time, if ever, that the new Prime Minister quickly called for a general election? Boris Johnson took over the leadership on 23/07/2019 and called for a general election on 06/11/2019. > **[From Brexit to Partygate, a timeline of Boris Johnson's career](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/from-brexit-to-partygate-a-timeline-of-boris-johnsons-career)** > > He was the mayor who basked in the glory of hosting the 2012 London Olympics, and the man who led the Conservatives to a thumping election victory on the back of his promise to “get Brexit done.” That was over three months later. So, I suppose I have a two-pronged question: When was the last time a new UK Prime Minister called for a general election after a shorter period than Johnson?, and When was the last time a UK Prime Minister called for a general election quite quickly after taking office - say in less than a month or so? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/2 "2022-10-24T17:07:48Z")
1955, I think, when Eden took over from Churchill > **[1955 United Kingdom general election](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_United_Kingdom_general_election)** > > Anthony Eden > Conservative > Anthony Eden > Conservative > The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election in 1951. > It was a snap election: after Winston Churchill retired in April 1955, Anthony Eden took over and immediately called the election in order to gain a mandate for his government. > It resulted in a majority of 60 seats for the government under new leader and Prime Minister Anthony Eden; the result remains the larg... ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/3 "2022-10-25T11:48:39Z")
I was all set to say something about how the Fixed-term Parliament Act would impede Sunak from calling an immediate election anyhow. Then I Googled it and found out that that act was [repealed earlier this year,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_and_Calling_of_Parliament_Act_2022) so Sunak could call an election if he wanted to. Guess I need to follow UK politics more closely. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/4 "2022-10-25T14:24:34Z")
The Fixed-term Parliament Act wouldn’t have stopped a general election. It would just mean that Parliament would have to pass a motion for the election to go forward. Considering that everyone but the Conservative Party wants a general election, the motion would easily pass. This circumstance happened in 2019. > **[Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Parliamentary_General_Election_Act_2019)** > > The Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 (c. 29) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for the holding of the 2019 United Kingdom general election on 12 December 2019. > The Act was fast-tracked in its passage through Parliament, meaning that it completed all of its stages in the House of Commons in a single day, on 29 October 2019, and received its formal First Reading in the House of Lords on the same day. It completed its remaining stages ther... ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/5 "2022-10-25T15:09:26Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Considering that everyone but the Conservative Party wants a general election, the motion would easily pass. Well, considering that the Conservative Party holds a clear majority in the House of Commons (that’s why their leader is Prime Minister, after all), I don’t think it’s so evident that such a motion would pass easily. Sure, you might have a number of dissenter Tory MPs who’d vote in favour of early elections, but I guess most of them have a strong self-interest in not standing up for re-election at this time and would not support a motion to call such an election that’s not supported by the party whip. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/6 "2022-10-26T08:46:32Z")
I’m saying that the Fixed-term Parliament Act would not have prevented **Sunak** from calling a snap election, although he would have to get Parliament’s approval to do so. The act itself provided an exception for early elections if they were agreed to by a 2/3’s majority of Parliament. And the act could also be bypassed by other legislation as was done by the Johnson government before the 2019 election. As for anyone besides the Prime Minister calling for an early general election, whether under the current rules, or hypothetically under the FTPA, I don’t think that would be possible. Most bills are submitted by the government. There are some exceptions, such as private members bills, but I don’t think a motion for an early election from outside the government would be allowed under those exceptions. Also, I don’t think it would be constitutional. The method for a party outside of government to call for an early election is to submit a confidence motion expressing censure (aka no-confidence) in the government. If the motion passes, the Prime Minister must either resign or call a general election. I can sort-of imagine a scenario with a coalition government where an outside party might try to circumvent the confidence motion process by submitting a motion for an early election. But I can’t imagine that such a motion would pass constitutional scrutiny, whether from the House of Lords, or from the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/7 "2022-10-26T08:52:20Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I’m saying that the Fixed-term Parliament Act would not have prevented **Sunak** from calling a snap election, although he would have to get Parliament’s approval to do so. The act itself provided an exception for early elections if they were agreed to by a 2/3’s majority of Parliament. And the act could also be bypassed by other legislation as was done by the Johnson government before the 2019 election. This is actually one of the reasons why the Fixed-term Parliament Act was an exceedingly badly written piece of legislation. In particular, the two-thirds requirement made no sense since Parliament can always override the act by adopting a new one that allows for a general election - and such an overriding act can be passed with a simple majority. That’s exactly what Johnson did in 2019. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/8 "2022-10-26T09:03:02Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Well, considering that the Conservative Party holds a clear majority in the House of Commons (that’s why their leader is Prime Minister, after all), I don’t think it’s so evident that such a motion would pass easily. Sure, you might have a number of dissenter Tory MPs who’d vote in favour of early elections, but I guess most of them have a strong self-interest in not standing up for re-election at this time and would not support a motion to call such an election that’s not supported by the party whip. I’m guessing if the Government wanted an election, they would make the vote a 3 line whip - vote with the Government, or you’re out on your ear. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-a-uk-general-election-was-called-quickly-after-a-new-prime-minister-took-office/973709/9 "2022-10-26T13:28:09Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I’m guessing if the Government wanted an election, they would make the vote a 3 line whip - vote with the Government, **or you’re out on your ear.** Actual physical intimidation to get a vote? Isn’t that one of the things that got the last prime minister turfed out?