Actually, the power to call a general election is a poisoned chalice for a Prime Minister: if they win it is great, but if they lose they generally get the chop because they made the wrong decision. Under the old system, Conservative campaign headquarters told its candidates that there were only so many Thursdays—which, by convention, we used—and only so many days of the year, because of summer days and autumn, on which we could have a general election. When it comes down to it, there are only four or five dates a Prime Minister can choose from. A Prime Minister has the seals of office from the Queen and the responsibility to discharge a Government programme. If someone has to decide, I would prefer it to be the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011
Proceeding contribution from
Robert Syms
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Thursday, 23 October 2014.
It occurred during Backbench debate on Repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
586 c1087 
Session
2014-15
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2019-11-18 10:20:08 +0000
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