Choosing a Prime Minister: The Transfer of Power in Britain
Rodney Brazier
Abstract
This unique book for the first time makes a precise analysis of all the possible circumstances in which a politician can become, and cease to be, the British Prime Minister. A critical examination is made of all the relevant constitutional conventions, precedents, non-legal codes, historical events, and law. Of the holders of the office since 1902 (the starting date for the book) more individuals have obtained the office in circumstances other than following a General Election. The book follows a sequence beginning with how a Prime Minister can lose power (for example losing an election, illne ... More
This unique book for the first time makes a precise analysis of all the possible circumstances in which a politician can become, and cease to be, the British Prime Minister. A critical examination is made of all the relevant constitutional conventions, precedents, non-legal codes, historical events, and law. Of the holders of the office since 1902 (the starting date for the book) more individuals have obtained the office in circumstances other than following a General Election. The book follows a sequence beginning with how a Prime Minister can lose power (for example losing an election, illness, death, a party coup, or retirement), then examines the procedures that might have to be followed (including any need for a caretaker during an interregnum, and how a person can be elected leader of his or her party), and considers at length the ways in which a person can become Prime Minister. The book concludes with a chapter examining whether all this could be made more accessible in a code, and a draft of one is provided at the end of the book.
Keywords:
British Prime Minister,
constitutional history,
constitutional conventions,
Ministers,
Cabinet,
becoming Prime Minister,
change of Prime Minister,
caretaker premiers,
losing the premiership,
General Elections
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2020 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780198859291 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: August 2020 |
DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198859291.001.0001 |