Fixed Term Parliaments

Unsurprisingly after the autumn election or non-election fiasco there has been a fair bit of publicity in favour of fixed term parliaments of four or five years. The idea is that it should not be at the Prime Minister's whim to play around with something so important. The case for fixed terms can be seen HERE. Two LibDem MPs have tabled a bill in Parliament, and ueber-blogger Ian Dale is in favour.

I am not at all sure that I am, though.

Firstly, the discretion to prorogue parliament and call an election is technically not the Prime Minister's but the Queen's. Now, I know that with most aspects of the Royal Prerogative, such as the right to declare war and appoint peers, HMQ doesn't get much of a look in, but I am not sure it is necessarily the case here. Remember when Tony Blair wanted to call an election after two and a half years (to match some temporary increase in his fortunes or more likely trying to get a few more years before a downturn in public opinion): there were rumours, presumably emanating from Buckingham Palace, that it should not be necessary and the Queen might not allow it. Blair might have called the Queen's bluff but that would have generated a lot of negative publicity. He held on until a decent four year period had expired.

Secondly, I have a general feeling that tinkering with checks and balances concerning the monarch's role should be given a lot more thought; it is easy to destroy an age-old tradition but not so easy to reinstate it.

Third, the calling of an election is very much a test of the Prime Minister. Heath called an election under the 'Who governs Britain' banner and the public replied that we had been paying him to. He was voted out. Brown dithered about calling an election he would certainly have won and the electorate now seem likely to penalise him. Whoever calls the election, the voting is in our hands.

Lastly the fear that a government might inflate the economy in time for a General Election is to my mind somewhat irrelevant. If it knows the election will be in five years time it can still manipulate the economic climate to meet that date - what could be easier?

People should think before tinkering with the Constitution. There are more important changes to be considered, such as the make-up of the House of Lords (see here)