Prorogation and the election: what does it mean and how did we get here?
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue Parliament in September was one of the key actions taken this autumn and one of the things that led directly to a General Election being called. Alfie Lovett explains what the fuss was all about.
What is 'proroguing'?
Proroguing is the fancy term for shutting down Parliament. When Parliament is shut down, no debates will be in session and there will be no voting on legislation, as both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are not present. A prorogation happens on the advice of the PM. The PM is required to confer with the Queen about it, stating good reasons why Parliament should be shut down. Proroguing could happen for several reasons, usually to separate sessions. Sessions are different things Parliament may discuss, for example, the latest session is the Brexit session and has been going since June 2017, a considerably long time for a parliamentary session.
Why and how did Johnson try to prorogue Parliament?
Johnson told the Queen that he was proroguing Parliament to end the Brexit parliamentary session, with the deadline on Hallowe'en. The Queen had little choice but to agree, as no monarch has blocked the PM on this scale for centuries. Obviously, a large number of MPs objected to the five week prorogue, saying that Johnson was unlawfully blocking Parliament from operation. The issue was taken to the High Court, where all 11 members of the court voted that it was unlawful for Johnson to prorogue Parliament. The main reason Johnson wanted to prorogue Parliament was to stop MPs blocking his no-deal Brexit plan.
What has this got to do with the election?
In the end, Boris Johnson could no longer command a majority in the House of Commons, which meant that he kept losing every vote he tried to bring. He sacked over 20 Conservative MPs from the party because they voted against him. This, and the fact that he fell out with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, who were supposed to be supporting him, meant that he only had a minority of supporters in the House of Commons. As a result, he claimed Parliament was no longer functioning and a General Election was the only way to solve the crisis.
Alfie Lovett, Year 8
What is 'proroguing'?
Proroguing is the fancy term for shutting down Parliament. When Parliament is shut down, no debates will be in session and there will be no voting on legislation, as both the House of Commons and the House of Lords are not present. A prorogation happens on the advice of the PM. The PM is required to confer with the Queen about it, stating good reasons why Parliament should be shut down. Proroguing could happen for several reasons, usually to separate sessions. Sessions are different things Parliament may discuss, for example, the latest session is the Brexit session and has been going since June 2017, a considerably long time for a parliamentary session.
Why and how did Johnson try to prorogue Parliament?
Johnson told the Queen that he was proroguing Parliament to end the Brexit parliamentary session, with the deadline on Hallowe'en. The Queen had little choice but to agree, as no monarch has blocked the PM on this scale for centuries. Obviously, a large number of MPs objected to the five week prorogue, saying that Johnson was unlawfully blocking Parliament from operation. The issue was taken to the High Court, where all 11 members of the court voted that it was unlawful for Johnson to prorogue Parliament. The main reason Johnson wanted to prorogue Parliament was to stop MPs blocking his no-deal Brexit plan.
What has this got to do with the election?
In the end, Boris Johnson could no longer command a majority in the House of Commons, which meant that he kept losing every vote he tried to bring. He sacked over 20 Conservative MPs from the party because they voted against him. This, and the fact that he fell out with the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, who were supposed to be supporting him, meant that he only had a minority of supporters in the House of Commons. As a result, he claimed Parliament was no longer functioning and a General Election was the only way to solve the crisis.
Alfie Lovett, Year 8