Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
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| Long title | An Act to make provision about the dissolution of Parliament and the determination of polling days for parliamentary general elections; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | c. 14 |
| Introduced by |
Nick Clegg Deputy Prime Minister |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 September 2011 |
| Commencement | 15 September 2011 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (c. 14) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced fixed-term elections to the Westminster parliament. Under the provisions of the Act, parliamentary elections must be held every five years, beginning in 2015. The Act received Royal Assent on 15 September 2011. Only in the case of a vote of no confidence or with a two-thirds majority of the Commons may an election be called any earlier.
Fixed-term Parliaments, where general elections ordinarily take place in accordance with a schedule set far in advance, were part of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement which was produced after the 2010 general election.
Before the passage of the Act, Parliament could be dissolved by royal proclamation by virtue of the Royal Prerogative. This originally meant that the British monarch decided when to dissolve Parliament. Over time, the monarch increasingly acted only on the advice of the prime minister; by the nineteenth century, prime ministers had a great deal of de facto control over the timings of general elections.
The Septennial Act 1715 provided that a Parliament expired seven years after it had been summoned; this period was reduced to five years by the Parliament Act 1911. Apart from special legislation enacted during both World Wars to extend the life of the then-current Parliaments, Parliament was never allowed to reach its maximum statutory length, as the monarch always dissolved it before its expiry. The five-year maximum duration referred to the lifetime of the Parliament, and not to the interval between general elections. For example, the 2010 general election was held five years and one day after the 2005 general election, whilst the 1992 general election was held on 9 April 1992 and the next general election was not held until 1 May 1997.
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