To give the short answer, this is just the way UK politics works. Barring a brief and largely botched recent experiment with fixed-term parliaments, election dates remain in the gift of a prime minister. To borrow a phrase sometimes used about jury trials, it is perhaps the worst system in the world, apart from all the other ones.
One thing is clear: when it comes to the overall stability of parliaments, the UK is not exactly a world leader. A study released last month by an electoral campaign group found the UK came fourth last out of 17 countries with broadly comparable political systems in terms of the proportion of parliamentary terms that reached their designated end point over the past 50 years. At 76%, the UK was worse than places including Italy and Belgium.
It is more a factor of political culture rather than rules. At the other end of the table were half a dozen countries with completion rates of between 98% and 100%. Of these, only one - Norway - has no constitutional provision for early elections.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 08, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 08, 2024 من The Guardian.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Wall of online rage should not obscure beauty and ugliness
While the authorities have undermined fans’ trust, the truth is at risk of being buried under a mound of tinfoil hats
Surrey worthy winners as Championship takes eye
Nestled within a season of Test triumphs for England, it was atop-of-the-table county clash that truly stole the show
Strike it rich Footballers must find a moral compass before embarking on a journey of unity
IT he distant strains of The Internationale can be heard on the approach to the Etihad Stadium.
Sri Lanka President pledges 'era of renaissance as leftists come in from the cold
As he was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new president yesterday morning, Anura Kumara Dissanayake heralded a \"new era of renaissance\" for the country.
Man reunited with lost family 73 years after he was abducted as a child
A man who was abducted as a sixyear-old while playing in a California park in 1951 has been found more than seven decades later thanks to the help of an online ancestry test, old photos and newspaper clippings.
Veteran activist Fonda issues rallying call to young voters
Young people's unhappiness with the Biden administration's record on oil and gas drilling and the war in Gaza should not deter them from voting to block Donald Trump from the US presidency, the Hollywood actor and activist Jane Fonda has urged.
Ex-partner of Pelicot co-accused fears she was raped
The former partner of a co-defendant in a mass rape trial that has prompted horror and protests in France has broken down in tears and told the court she may herself have been sexually assaulted.
Meloni to be presented with thinktank's global citizen award by Musk
Giorgia Meloni is to be presented with the Atlantic Council's global citizen award by Elon Musk in New York, as the Italian far-right prime minister resurrects links with allies of Donald Trump before the US presidential election.
French interior minister is sign 'reactionary right' are in power, critics warn
The new French interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, has promised to \"restore order\" by cracking down on crime and immigration as critics on the left said the new government was leaning too far towards the \"reactionary right\".
Show puts creator of first UK Holocaust memorial in the spotlight
The work of an overlooked GermanJewish artist who created the UK's first memorial to victims of Nazi persecution is to be the focus of an exhibition that shines light on the unreported aspects of his life.