John Howard Australia s out going Prime Minister has lost his seat in Parliament. What would have been the constitutional position had he remained leader of the largest parliamentary party?.
What if at the next UK general election Gorden Brown were to lose his Scotish seat to the SNP, yet Labour were to remain the largest party in Westminser?.
2007-11-24 22:41:41 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
The constitutional position is quite clear. The Prime Minister is the person chosen by the monarch (her advisors!) who has the support of the majority of the House of Commons.
If Gordon Brown were to lose his seat in Fife, but Labour retained an overall majority, there is no consitutional reason why he could not remain PM.
Alec Douglas Home became PM on 20 Oct 1963, but wasn't an MP until 8 Nov 1963, winning a by-election in a safe seat, having renounced his peerage. So from 20 Oct - 8 Nov 1963 we had a PM who wasn't an MP.
In reality, the electorate would not accept as PM a man who couldn't hold his own seat, and his position would be untenable, although not unconstitutional.
2007-11-24 23:10:02 · answer #1 · answered by Mr Sceptic 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think you'll find that these British PMs were not MPs:-
Earl of Bute 1762
Lord Grenville 1806-1807
Duke of Portland 1807-1809
Lord Liverpool 1812-1827
Viscount Goderich 1827-28
Duke of Wellington 1828-1830
Earl Grey 1830-1834
Lord Melbourne 1834, 1835-1841
Lord John Russell 1846-1852, 1865-1866
Earl of Derby 1852, 1858-1859, 1866-1868
Earl of Aberdeen 1852-1855
Lord Palmerston 1855-1858, 1859-1865
Marquis of Salisbury 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902
Earl of Rosebery 1894-1895
2007-11-24 22:56:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yup, the Title of "Prime Minister" is one of convention, not rght, and means that he's "First amongst equals", to coin a Jeffrey Archer book title.
His actual position in Parliament is "First Lord of the Treasury." He would have to be elected to Parliament to have that post.
It is an interesting question, as now Scotland has it's own legislative body, whether we should still have Scottish MPs in the UK Parliament
It has been argued that having someone elected to a Scottish Constituancy as Prime Minister means we are technically under the control of a foreign power!
2007-11-24 22:58:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
They would set up an interim leader until they elected a permanent one or they deputy prime minister would take temporary charge
2007-11-24 22:51:18 · answer #4 · answered by RAH RAH 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He cannot be PM. He lost his seat. The party needs to elect a new PM.
2007-11-25 12:52:22 · answer #5 · answered by Sleuth! 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
there is no constitional psoition , the pm is invited amongst all the parlimentarians to form the queen's government
in short he would not be invited he has no right to be PM
2007-11-24 22:45:37 · answer #6 · answered by bdsmslavegirly 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
he would be on the dole , GREAT I LOVE IT , and i am a scot
2007-11-25 02:03:01 · answer #7 · answered by ALEX N 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋