Author Archives: Andrew Defty

The 2024 General Election in numbers

The election Number of seats (constituencies) contested: 650 Number of candidates: 4,515. Considerable higher than 3,327 in 2019. Average number of candidates per constituency: 6.9. In Northern Ireland 7.6; Scotland 7.4; Wales, 7.3; England 6.9. Number of constituencies with 10 … Continue reading

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Why has the Prime Minister chosen to call a general election now?

The ability to choose the timing of a general election is a significant resource in the electoral armoury of a Prime Minister. It allows a Prime Minister to go to the country at a time which is most advantageous when, … Continue reading

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What are the implications of having the Foreign Secretary sitting in the House of Lords?

The most surprising aspect of Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet reshuffle has been the appointment of the former Prime Minister, David Cameron, as Foreign Secretary. Cameron is no longer an MP and as it is a convention that government ministers sit in … Continue reading

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How did the Prime Minister win a vote in Parliament and lose her authority?

It is remarkable that after a series of U-turns on key policy announcements and the resignation of two senior members of her Cabinet, the event which may well have precipitated the Prime Minister’s resignation was a parliamentary vote on an … Continue reading

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A hard act to follow: Charles III and the future of the monarchy

One of the prevailing themes in commentary following the death of Queen Elizabeth II was the continuity and constancy which her long reign embodied. This also reflected the long and almost unbroken continuity of the institution of the monarchy in … Continue reading

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