Demanding an election - Number 10 petitions

[Mannginger]

Just a question - given that the government have committed to respond to these petitions that anyone can raise - how do you think they'd respond if a petition demanding an election within the next 6 months was signed by a decent number of people (Say a minimum of 100,000 for example)

Could they ignore it or would they be forced to set a date? Could something like that generate sufficient groundswell of support to get the main papers and TV news applying pressure by proxy, simply by reporting the level of support?

At what point would the Queen sit up and take notice and say..."Hmm, clearly my government is in need of a change" and summon Winky to Buckingham Palace for a quiet chat?

Or is it just legally impossible to "force" an election in such a manner?

[Puggit]

It's impossible to force an election - and they ignored 2 million people against road pricing, so why bother?

The no10 petition system is designed to keep people happy, while able to ignore them.

[VxDuncan]

Believe me, if there was a way we'd be doing it...

They have and will continue to totally ignore any petitions on the no10 site (and "1 million people who want an election" type stupid groups on facebook. The only way to force them is if the Queen were to take control, but lets face it that ain't gunna happen.

Hence we've got to ride this one out. Possibly for the next 30 or 40 years if they impliment the 2003 Civil Contingencies Act and decide that the "re..depression" (that started in America and that we are best placed to weather) is actually a national emergency and therefore cancel the election.
[/foilhat]

[anonymous-user]

The only people who can force an election are the Labour backbenchers who could vote against the government in the event of a confidence motion being proposed by the opposition. If a government loses a vote of no confidence it has to resign. But as a lot of Labour backbenchers are going to lose their seats at the next election it would akin to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

[mattviatura]

Question: Why the hell does the opposition not call for a vote of no confidence?

[anonymous-user]

mattviatura said:

Question: Why the hell does the opposition not call for a vote of no confidence?

No point in calling for it if you cant win. It needs a sizeable rebellion from Labour. The usual way is to wait for an issue where the government is divided and you can be sure that there will be a rebellion and enough MP's will vote with their consciences. (Going to war in Iraq for instance). I would imagine that Brown will be making damn sure that no such opportunity arises.

[mattviatura]

I'm not very politically minded and have even less grasp of history but at what stage would it be appropriate to form a coalaition government a la WW2?

[Puggit]

mattviatura said:

I'm not very politically minded and have even less grasp of history but at what stage would it be appropriate to form a coalaition government a la WW2?

In the event of a hung parliament where one party does not have a majority (ie more votes than the rest put together). In this case two or more parties can join forces, so they have more votes than the other parties put together.