Blair resigning and "special elections"?

Question

Why doesn't Blair serve out his term? Here in the U.S., only really sick or really disgraced (facing criminal charges, etc.) politicians resign in the middle of a term. Also, I keeping reading about foreign leaders "calling" for a special election. What's up with that? How can you just decide to hold a nation-wide election whenever you want, and why would you want to cut your term short?

Answer 1

Blair announced before the last General Election that he would not seek a fourth term. This has never happened before. But at least he was honest enough to indicate his intention to go, thus avoiding hanging on to the edge of the cliff by the finger nails until the rest of his Party jumped on his hands.

By deciding to resign a reasonable period before the next General Election he gives his successor a chance to make his mark and develop his policies before that time.

Constitutionally the British electorate do not elect a Prime Minister in the same way as a US voter elects a President. In a UK General Election they vote for a Constituency Member of Parliament, choosing a candidate from the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, or other parties. The winning candidates become MPs and represent their contitutuency in the House of Commons. The Leader of the Party with a large enough number of MPs to form a majority over all other Party MPs in the House of Commons is invited by the Queen to form a Government. Thus the Party Leader (also an MP) becomes Prime Minister and chooses his "Cabinet" (or Executive) from amongst his fellow MPs.

If a Party Leader dies in office, or resigns, or is otherwise deposed (such as was the case when the Conservative Party kicked out Margaret Thatcher and installed John Major as leader) then the Party has an internal election for a new Leader. When the new Leader is elected he or she is invited to form a government and thus becomes Prime Minister.

There is no argument to be made for a fresh General Election because Gordon Brown (as seems likely) succeeds Tony Blair, since the electorate never elected the Prime Minister in the first place.

My personal view is that Britain should have fixed-term Parliaments (instead of the current maximum of 5 years in which a Prime Minister can call an election at any time of his choosing). I also favour a fixed number of terms for being Prime Minister, on the lines of the US Presidency, though I think that two 4-year terms might be too short.

Answer 2

Under the parliamentary system, the PM does not have a fixed term of office. He serves until elections are called, which happens on the first to occur of (a) losing a vote on a major bill, (b) the passage of a vote of no confidence, (c) five years elapse since the last election, (d) or the sovereign "accepts" the PM's resignation. I "quoted" accepts in that sentence because in at least one modern case, the King accepted the PM's resignation even though the PM had not resigned. When Parliament passed the bill to separate India from the Empire, Churchill protested that he did not become PM to preside over the dismantling of the British Empire. The next day, His Majesty summoned Sir Winston to Buckingham Palace, and as Winnie left the grounds, the press release, which had already been drawn up, hit the streets announcing that His Majesty had accepted Sir Winston's resignation.

It's a tradition under the English Constitution. When the PM's not wanted, he goes quietly, without awaiting some arbitrary time period to elapse. The system makes the UK government much more responsive to the will of the people than the broken system we have on this side of the pond.

Answer 3

He's only stepping down as leader of the Labour party. He will remain as a Labour MP until at least the next election.

In the UK the Govt can call an election any time it likes, although the maximum period that can elapse between General Elections is 5 years.
Most general elections are 4 or 5 years apart.

Blair's stepping down all stems from the "Granita Deal" in the mid 90s, whereby Gordon Brown agreed to let Blair have a clear run at the Labour leadership (following the death of John Smith) on the understanding that at a later date, Blair would move aside to allow Brown to take over.

Answer 4

In British politics, there is no such thing as a term of office. Your time lasts until the next election, and that election can happen whenever Parliament calls one. (I think they need to happen at least once every 5 years, but they can be more often than that, even multiple times in one year.) Blair is thus not resigning in the middle of his term. It also isn't a special election - it's just a regular election. "Special election" is a term used for filling a seat that becomes vacant (due to death or resignation) at anytime other than a regularly called or scheduled election.

Answer 5

Actually, the Brittish system involves special elections whenever a particular party gains control of Parliament. It is not a matter of not serving out a term and the Prime Minister usually steps down in the manner that Blair is doing so.