unoriginalname38 – the blog of Dave Cole

A minor constitutional point

Following on from last week's PMQs, which I talked about here, I've come up with a rebuttal to all the (cheap, IMHO) points made by Cameron and, today, Hague about paralysis during Labour's leadership election and calls for a leadership election.

The formal arrangements are that the Queen asks a member of the Commons (or, potentially, the Lords) to form an administration that will secure the confidence of the Commons. So long as Messrs Cameron and Hague twitter on, they are challenging the majoritarianism of the system (OK), making cheap points and, worst of all, missing an opportunity to hold the government to account - for instance, what is the PM or DPM's opinion on whether Parliament should have a vote on military action? Do they think that they established a constitutional convention, or that a further vote on military action would establish such a convention?

As I understand it, when Brown is elected leader of the Labour Party, Blair will visit the Queen to say that he no longer enjoys the support of the Commons and will ask her to commission a new Prime Minister, recommending Brown. The general election is about choosing who will represent the constituency you happen to be in, not choosing the government.

xD.

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