Are we in constitutional chaos pending Brexit negotiations? Neil Parpworth consults The Cabinet Manual for advice
The result of the 8 June 2017 general election came as a surprise to many. Few predicted that a hung Parliament would be the outcome although when the polls closed at 10 o’clock on election night, the Exit Poll produced jointly by the BBC, ITV and Sky accurately forecast that the Conservative Party would gain the most seats but with no outright majority. As it turned out, Theresa May’s party (at times during the election campaign it felt that this was the new name for the Conservatives) fell eight seats short of the 326 required for a majority.
What next?
The relative novelty of a UK hung Parliament has ensured that it is not widely known what should happen following an inconclusive general election result. In the absence of a codified constitution, it is necessary for us to turn to constitutional convention or, as Dicey termed them, the ‘understandings, habits or practices which, though they may regulate the conduct of … officials, are not in reality
