Living in London

2005 will be an election year in England, and we plan to actually read the news as the election approaches. We will share what we learn about the British system of government. The first thing that seems a bit weird, reading about all this as an American, is that the UK holds elections on some sort of ad hoc basis. Could be February, May or June.

The British General Election 2005 is expected to be held in May. However, in early November 2004, widespread news reports claimed that a snap poll could be held as early as February. According to The Scotsman, Labour Party officials "insisted that May remained the most likely time for the poll." In mid-November 2004, The Guardian claimed that May 5th was the most likely date, with the convenient abbreviation 5.5.5 (i.e. 5/5/05). However in mid-December, another Guardian article reported that "The coming general election could be held as late as June 16 and not, as most MPs in all parties have been expecting, on May 5, senior ministers are privately warning colleagues."

Turns out that general elections are held at intervals of up to five years. The Government can, and often does, decide to hold one at an earlier date. In times of national emergency, such as war, general elections can be postponed, but this is very rare. A general election is the election of the whole House of Commons at one time, that is, one Member of Parliament (MP) for each constituency in the United Kingdom. The candidates may be from any one of a number of political parties, or if not from a registered party, he or she may stand as an 'Independent'. One Independent MP was returned at the 2001 General Election. Also, a parliamentary by-election can be held when a seat falls vacant in the House of Commons (usually because an MP dies, resigns or is made a member of the House of Lords).

Stay tuned for additional posts on the British government . . .