1 Introduction
1. In 2010, for the first time in 36 years and for
only the second time since World War II, the general election
held on 6 May resulted in no clear majority for one single party
in the House of Commons. Following negotiations, Rt Hon David
Cameron MP was appointed Prime Minister and formed a coalition
government with the Liberal Democrats. We undertook an inquiry
into the process of Government formation after the election and
in January 2011 published a report on Lessons from the process
of Government formation after the 2010 General Election.[1]
Our report focused on the processes which took place after the
2010 General Election and suggested some improvements which could
make the processes and conventions clearer both to the parties
involved in the negotiations and to the wider public. For example,
after the 2010 election, there had been considerable confusion
over the rules and conventions governing the role of the incumbent
Prime Minister, then Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, once it was clear
that he could not command a parliamentary majority, as well as
over the power and authority the incumbent Government had to make
decisions during the negotiation period.
2. In this report we aim to inform the public what
they should expect after the 2015 election should it result in
another House of Commons with no overall majority, to provide
feedback to the Government on areas where there is still uncertainty
as to what the rules are, and to propose changes to ensure Parliament
is at the heart of the process, where it should be.
3. We launched this inquiry on 29 January 2015, and
invited evidence on the following issues:
· The
principles governing Civil Service support to the leaders of political
parties involved in discussions over the formation of a new administration
(Cabinet Manual, 1st edition, para 2.14);
· Operation of
the 'caretaker convention' restricting government activity following
an election with no overall majority as long as there is "significant
doubt over the Government's ability to command the confidence
of the House of Commons" (Cabinet Manual, 1st edition, para
2.30);
· Arrangements
to demonstrate whether a Prime Minister forming a new administration
commands the support of the House of Commons;
· How best to
facilitate any negotiations between political parties on government
formation.
4. During the course of this inquiry, we received
five pieces of written evidence and took oral evidence on two
occasions, from a variety of witnesses including the Clerk of
the House of Commons,[2]
the Cabinet Secretary and the Chairs of the three main political
parties' parliamentary groups. We are grateful to all those who
have contributed to the inquiry.
1 Lessons from the process of Government formation after the 2010 General Election,
Fourth Report of Session 2010-12, HC 528 Back
2
When the Committee took oral evidence from David Natzler on 9
March 2015 he was Acting Clerk of the House of Commons. On 23
March 2015 he was appointed Clerk of the House of Commons. Back
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