general election question

[ali_kat]

If the leader of the party loses his/her seat in a general election (and so is no longer an MP) do they still become the PM?

If not, what happens?

[Saddle bum]

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

[esselte]

I think the PM must be an MP otherwise he couldn't sit in the House of Commons..assuming the guy we're talking about was in the winning party then they ( the party) would have to elect another leader I suppose...

[s2art]

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

[Puggit]

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

And Labour have a habit of creating Lords for non-MPs (Adonis, Mandlebum spring to mind)

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Is PM the only cabinet position with the requirement that the person holding it is an "Elected" MP?

What is there to stop Labour replacing GB with Mandleson?

[esselte]

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

[Fittster]

It appears it can be done, the example of Alec Douglas-Home who was PM while neither an MP or a Lord.

I think a back bencher in a safe seat would be asked to step down, a quick by-election and the problem is solved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Douglas-Home

"Home, the first UK Prime Minister born in the 20th century, believed it would not be practical to serve as PM from the Lords (it was widely believed that Lord Curzon had not been invited to become prime minister in 1923 because of his seat in the Lords). Using the Peerage Act 1963, which had only been passed earlier in the same year after Tony Benn's campaign to renounce his peerage, Home disclaimed his Earldom and other peerages on 23 October 1963. For the next two weeks he belonged to neither House of Parliament - an extremely uncommon occurrence for a sitting Prime Minister. As "Sir Alec Douglas-Home", he contested a by-election in the safe seat of Kinross & West Perthshire. Home duly won on 8 November 1963, entering the history books as the last peer to become Prime Minister and the only Prime Minister to resign from the Lords to enter the Commons.

[s2art]

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

[esselte]

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

[ali_kat]

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

My recollection too, hence the question

Cheers

[Fittster]

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

The role of PM has only existed in it's modern form since 1917. However if you go back to the 18th and 19th Century lots of members of the house of lords who held the position of First Lord of the Treasury which is pretty much the same thing.

[s2art]

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

Go back further and there are several in the 19th century. Lord Halifax was almost chosen instead of Churchill in WW2.

[esselte]

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

Go back further and there are several in the 19th century. Lord Halifax was almost chosen instead of Churchill in WW2.

Would he have had to give up his title and sit at an election to have been able to be PM?

[s2art]

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

Go back further and there are several in the 19th century. Lord Halifax was almost chosen instead of Churchill in WW2.

Would he have had to give up his title and sit at an election to have been able to be PM?

Not that I can tell. There is no law about it.

[Fittster]

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

Go back further and there are several in the 19th century. Lord Halifax was almost chosen instead of Churchill in WW2.

Would he have had to give up his title and sit at an election to have been able to be PM?

No. Since the abolition of the general right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and the consequent removal of the general disability of such peers to sit in or vote for the House of Commons, it is no longer necessary for hereditary peers to renounce their peerages for this purpose. In 2001, John Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso, became the first British hereditary peer to be elected to the Commons and take his seat. Later that year, Douglas Hogg inherited the peerage his father, Quintin Hogg, had disclaimed but did not have to disclaim it himself to continue sitting in the House of Commons. In 2004, Michael Ancram became Marquess of Lothian on the death of his father and was also able to continue sitting as MP.

[Fittster]

esselte said:

s2art said:

esselte said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

Serious question...who? In recent times?

Alex Douglas-Home in the early 60's

You did say PMs ..plural...anyone else?

How far back do you want to go?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Prime_Ministe...

Prior to the 20th century many were members of the house of lords.

Looking at the list reminds me of ignorance. Can't say I'd heard of Andrew Bonar Law

[unrepentant]

Puggit said:

s2art said:

Saddle bum said:

IIRC, the PM needs to be an MP.

We have had PM's from the Lords in the past.

And Labour have a habit of creating Lords for non-MPs (Adonis, Mandlebum spring to mind)

The Tories do it as well, it's standard practice. David Young was parachuted into the Lords by Mrs Thatcher and appointed to the cabinet a month later. I don't think Michael Ashcroft has ever stood for election either.