Bill for Fixed Term General Elections Tabled by Lib Dems in Parliament

The Liberal Democrats will today table a Bill to the House of Commons to introduce fixed parliamentary terms of four years. The measure, which represents long-standing party policy, comes after Gordon Brown ruled out holding a General Election this autumn, and described the possibility of a poll in 2008 as "very unlikely".

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Solicitor General, David Howarth MP, who will table the Bill, said:

"The Liberal Democrats have for a long time argued that Parliament should be on the basis of fixed terms like most other modern democratic countries. It's quite wrong that the Prime Minister of the day should be able to fiddle the dates of the election for short term political advantage.

"Events over the last few days have shown how damaging it is to the political system for the Prime Minister to have that discretion. Gordon Brown has been playing games with the electorate in a system that is all too open to abuse."

Shepway Local Party Chair and Election Agent Tim Prater welcomed the move, saying:

"Fixed Term elections (every four years, as we do for our Councils, in Scotland and Wales) would remove the fix which is that one person - the Prime Minister - gets to decide when to have a poll.

"Robert Bliss can't choose when the next Shepway elections will be - they will be on 5 May 2011. And neither should the Prime Minister decide when a General Election should be. The current system is corrupt, and corrupting, and I welcome the Lib Dem move to change it."

Liberal Democrat Shadow Solicitor General, David Howarth MP, will today table the Fixed Term Parliaments Bill, and seek to have its First Reading at the earliest possible opportunity.

The Bill would fix the date of the next general election (as 7 May 2009) and all subsequent general elections (four yearly intervals, on the first Thursday in May), forbid the dissolution of Parliament at times between those dates and allow the House of Commons to change the day of the week on which General Elections are held.