Who's in charge during a British election?

[longknife]

So, the Prime Minister goes to the Queen to ask to dissolve parliament.

What happens?

Well, every Member of Parliament is out of a job, back to being a common citizen. No office. No staff. Not even the title.

So who's in charge while politicians hit the campaign trail?

However, the basic principle is that the Queen must have a government at all times.

That means the prime minister and other members of the government remain in charge during an election.

But, the ministers can’t do anything but carry out essential tasks. And, if they try to fudge, the civil servants step up and blab to the world about it.

The fate of those who are not re-elected

If a former MP fails to be re-elected, they are given five working days to clear their offices - anything left behind will be destroyed.

The silver lining is that ex-MPs do get severance pay - a Loss of Office payment. The amount depends on their age and the length of time they've been an MP.

Any outstanding debts (repayments for over-claimed expenses, for example) can be deducted first.

I like the fact that the number of days they can campaign is limited. I wish we had something similar here in the USA. You could only file and start running 90 days before the election. Maybe more people would pay attention to what they’re promising and force them to come up with the truth about their goals.

More about the Brits @ Who's in charge when there are no MPs?

And I’ve read some comments that the Prime Minister might lose his seat to a young upstart.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

So, the Prime Minister goes to the Queen to ask to dissolve parliament.

What happens?

Well, every Member of Parliament is out of a job, back to being a common citizen. No office. No staff. Not even the title.

So who's in charge while politicians hit the campaign trail?

However, the basic principle is that the Queen must have a government at all times.

That means the prime minister and other members of the government remain in charge during an election.

But, the ministers can’t do anything but carry out essential tasks. And, if they try to fudge, the civil servants step up and blab to the world about it.

The fate of those who are not re-elected

If a former MP fails to be re-elected, they are given five working days to clear their offices - anything left behind will be destroyed.

The silver lining is that ex-MPs do get severance pay - a Loss of Office payment. The amount depends on their age and the length of time they've been an MP.

Any outstanding debts (repayments for over-claimed expenses, for example) can be deducted first.

I like the fact that the number of days they can campaign is limited. I wish we had something similar here in the USA. You could only file and start running 90 days before the election. Maybe more people would pay attention to what they’re promising and force them to come up with the truth about their goals.

More about the Brits @ Who's in charge when there are no MPs?

And I’ve read some comments that the Prime Minister might lose his seat to a young upstart.

You are in a bad way if you envy our system. It is possible that johnson could lose his seat. The final lists go up on friday and its possible they will shift him to a safer seat. They have a few of those.
The key to this election will be if farages mob stay the course and split the brexit vote. That would be disaster for the tories but great for the country.