Pupdates from Parliament
- Latest news June 2024

On the 22nd of May 2024 the Prime minister requested permission from the King to dissolve Parliament and called a general election. Parliament will be prorogued on the 24th of May and dissolved on the 30th of May 2024.

With Parliament being prorogued on the 24th of May, there will be two days afterwards called the ‘wash-up’. These are the last official days for ministers and MP’s to complete any unfinished business before dissolution.

The number of Wash-up days can vary, with the longest being 7 days in 2017, although is usually two or three days.

This creates a rush to get Bills completed and rushed through. Which is not easy as it requires parties to agree to rush a Bill through the process.

All bills that are not completed by the end of the Wash-up are failed. This means that a Bill would have to be introduced again in the next Parliamentary session and go through the Bill process from the start.
Once a Parliament has been dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant, meaning there are no longer any MPs. Government ministers remain in post until a new government has been formed after the general election. Members of the House of Lords retain their positions but all business ends.

Elections occur on a Thursday since 1935. This was due to markets being on a Thursday and voters being paid on a Friday. It was thought that voters were more likely to be out and about at markets and sober that day. So government chose a Thursday to increase the chance people would be more likely to vote.