‘Was there ever a more hollow and impotent piece of legislation than the UK’s Fixed Term Parliaments Act? Trumpeted by the Conservative-led coalition as a way of stopping opportunist prime ministers ever again calling snap elections to capitalize on hefty poll leads – by complicating simple confidence votes in ways that prompted Labour to condemn it as a constitutional “stitch-up” – within six short years of receiving Royal Assent it has proved itself wholly incapable of doing any such thing. When it suited David Cameron to build a protective cordon around his unholy alliance with the Liberal Democrats, the Act was a useful confection: a road-block solid enough to stop either partner provoking an early return to the polls, by swerving out of the ministerial motorcade in a petulant huff. But the fact it could be so casually swept aside as soon as the Tories’ stars were back in the ascendancy – like a trifling traffic cone in the residents’ parking bay otherwise reserved for them outside Number 10 Downing Street – shows it wasn’t worth the statute-book it was written on. We should repeal this zombie law at the earliest opportunity.’

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OUP Blog, 31st May 2017

Source: blog.oup.com