Fixed Term Parliaments Bill — Clause 1 — Both Houses of Parliament to Approve General Election Date — 13 Jul 2011 at 16:15

The majority of MPs voted against requiring a resolution of both Houses of Parliament to approve the date of a general election.

MPs were considering the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill^[1] when they approved the following motion in a vote:

• That this house disagrees with Lords amendment 1.

Lords amendment 1 was^[2]:

• Page 1, line 6, at beginning insert “If, but only if, a resolution to this effect is approved by each House of the Parliament in question,”

This would have effected subclause 1(3) of the Bill^[3] which stated:

• The polling day for each subsequent parliamentary general election is to be the first Thursday in May in the fifth calendar year following that in which the polling day for the previous parliamentary general election fell.

The effect of the rejected amendment would have been to require each Parliament to pass a motion setting the date of the next general election; against the principle of a fixed term Parliament.

• [1] Fixed Term Parliaments Bill (now an act) page on Parliament's website
• [2] Lords amendments to the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill
• [3] Version of the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill to which the Lords amendments apply

Debate in Parliament | Source |