Observers of Britain’s governance structure could be forgiven for scratching their heads in recent weeks as they watch the country go through a succession of prime ministers without holding elections. While the opposition Labor Party is calling for elections, ruling conservatives are insisting on electing another prime minister from among their own ranks, which they have the right to do because of the way Britain’s parliamentary democracy works.
Britons never vote for their prime minister
Britain is divided into 650 local constituencies, and people mark a box for the representative they want to be their local Member of Parliament or MP. In most cases, it will be a member of one of the major political parties in the country.
The party which wins the majority has to form the government and the leader of that party automatically becomes the Prime Minister. Although coalitions are possible, the UK voting system favors the two largest parties and in most cases a single party will win an absolute majority, as in traditionalists in the current Parliament.
How do parties choose their leaders?
Since 1922, all 20 of Britain’s prime ministers have either come from the Labor Party or conservative Party, This means that the members of these parties have a great influence on who will be the Prime Minister of the country. The processes used by the parties to elect them may appear Byzantine.
Deep breath: For the Conservative Party, their MPs must first indicate their support for a potential leader. If there is enough support, this person will become the official candidate. All Conservative MPs then cast a series of votes, gradually reducing the number of candidates to two. In the end, the party’s ordinary members – about 180,000 of them – vote between these two candidates. Last time they picked Liz Truss Rishi Sunki,
If MPs are able to unite behind a candidate there is no need for party-wide members to vote. The last time this happened was in 2016 when lawmakers backed Theresa May after David Cameron resigned and she automatically became prime minister. This could happen again.
The Labor Party has its own process, which is arguably even more complicated.
But did Britain not vote for Boris Johnson in 2019?
Johnson was chosen by his party following the resignation of Theresa May. He was already prime minister for five months when voters ticked their ballots in December 2019. However, voter support for the Conservative Party cemented his position as prime minister.
Even in that election, however, only 70,000 people actually had a chance to vote for or against Johnson – people who lived in his constituencies of South Ruislip and Uxbridge in west London.
Since then, another prime minister, Liz Truss, has come and gone, and will be replaced by another by the end of next week – all without upsetting any ordinary voters.
Will there be general elections soon?
Constitutionally, a general election is not required in the UK for two more years. But as prime ministers come and go, being elected by a small segment of the population, many Britons are beginning to wonder why they are not getting a chance to influence who their next leader is. The clamor for general elections is likely to intensify in the near future.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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