Recent weeks may have left political observers in Britain perplexed as they watched the country go through a number of prime ministers without holding elections.
The ruling conservatives are pressing forward with choosing a new prime minister from within their own ranks, as they are entitled to do under the rules of the parliamentary democracy in Britain, despite the opposition Labour Party’s call for an election.
In Britain, there are 650 local constituencies, and voters check the box next to the name of the candidate they want to serve as their district’s MP. This will most likely be a representative of one of the country’s two main political parties.
The head of the party with the most seats becomes the prime minister by default, and the government is formed by that party.
Even while it is possible for coalitions to form, Britain’s election system favours the two largest parties, and in most cases one of them will gain an absolute majority of seats, as is the case for the Conservatives in the present Parliament.
Since 1922, all 20 of Britain’s prime ministers have been either Conservatives or Labour Party members. This suggests that the people that make up these parties have a big influence on the prime minister of the nation.
The methods the parties use to choose them may appear complicated.
The Conservative Party’s legislators must first demonstrate their support for a potential leader while taking a deep breath. If there is support, this individual will formally seek for office. After then, all of the Conservative MPs cast a series of votes that ultimately resulted in only two candidates remaining. Finally, the party’s regular members—about 180,000 of them—vote on these two candidates.
Previously, Liz Truss was chosen instead of Rishi Sunak.
If the MPs can unite behind a single candidate, the votes of the other party members are not necessary. The most recent instance of this happened in 2016, when Theresa May was duly elected prime minister following David Cameron’s resignation. This might happen again.
One could argue that the Labour Party’s own process is significantly more challenging.
Following Theresa May’s resignation, Johnson was chosen as the new leader of his party.
In December 2019, when voters checked their votes, he had served as prime minister for five months. However, the popularity of the Conservative Party among voters did help him maintain his position as prime minister.
Only 70,000 individuals had the chance to directly vote for or against Johnson in that election, and they had to live in his congressional district in west London, which included South Ruislip and Uxbridge.
Since then, without anyone disturbing the general electorate, Liz Truss has become the second prime minister to come and go, and a third will assume office by the end of the next week.
Britain has two more years until it is required by the constitution to call a national election. However, when prime ministers change, selected by a tiny percentage of the population, more Britons are beginning to wonder why they do not get to elect their next president.
It is likely that the call for a general election in the near future will only get stronger.
Why the British people don’t elect their leader, explained
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