Is the Fixed-term Parliaments Act a dead letter?

The ease with which Theresa May was able to secure an early dissolution on the 19 April 2017 has led to suggestions that the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 serves no useful purpose and should be scrapped.

Drawing on wider evidence of how fixed-term parliaments legislations works in other countries, Robert Hazell argues that there is a danger that it is being judged prematurely, on the basis of a single episode. Future circumstances in which a Prime Minister seeks a dissolution may be different, and in these cases the Fixed-term Parliaments Act may serve as more of a constraint.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Why we need a general election http://www.europeansources.info/record/why-we-need-a-general-election/

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