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While the country’s politicians spend the next six weeks vying for people’s votes, the machinery of British government will continue to spin, albeit with restrictions in place to keep the constitution and country intact.
Once a general election is held and Parliament is officially dissolved, Whitehall and all other public institutions enter what is officially known as the ‘period of heightened pre-election tensions’.
This constitutional oddity, formerly known as “purdah,” has been refined and adjusted over decades, allowing all government ministers to remain in power during elections and continue to run their ministries. This is the mechanism for doing so.
Whatever the chances of a new government being formed on July 5, a key convention is that the existing administrative structure will remain in place until the moment the newly elected prime minister and his cabinet take office.
Dr Catherine Haddon, a constitutional law expert at the Institute for Government think tank, said: “It’s important to remind people that government continues and public services continue during elections. We will always have government.”
However, it is not a complete government as it was known at other times.
Though not written into law, ministers are expected to follow a strict set of protocols to keep government and politics separate, at least for the time being.
As a result, they are effectively prohibited from making new policy announcements or initiatives. Parliamentary guidelines state that “public funds and departmental resources should not be used for partisan political purposes.”
Dr Haddon said: “The prime minister will remain in office, the ministers will remain in office and carry out their duties. However, the government will not be able to initiate any business or long-term policy, nor will it be able to initiate any major announcements or new appointments or new contracts.
“If there is an important policy issue that must be addressed, it should be done solely because it is in the national interest, and even then it is customary to consult with the opposition. The purpose is to carry out important government operations properly.
Dr Haddon points out that crises are unpredictable and there are laws in place to give governments the powers they need to deal with emergencies during election periods.
In 2010, for example, ministers had to deal with chaos caused by a volcanic ash cloud in Iceland and the European Union’s sovereign debt crisis.
And in 2017, Theresa May’s government was forced to respond to terrorist attacks at Manchester Arena and London Bridge during the height of the election campaign.
Dr Haddon said: “Governments can act even in a crisis. In 2010, we saw the ash cloud gathering and the crisis over the euro growing. So governments can act even in such situations. I have the ability.”
Ministers are allowed to campaign during elections as long as government funds are not used, but rules for civil servants are likely even stricter.
Public servants, whether in Whitehall, local authorities or other public bodies, may not take any action to influence voters, particularly through advertising campaigns or other announcements.
Adherence to these rules can go so far that uncontroversial publicly funded research is withheld from publication in the chaos of an election campaign.
Similarly, regularly published official statistics, such as unemployment rates and economic growth rates, must continue to be published as otherwise they could be interpreted as political acts.
The executive and civil service may continue to function, but parliament, as is to be expected given the purpose of a general election, will not.
When parliament is dissolved, incumbent members cease to be members and become candidates for re-election alongside their district rivals.
As a result, the British constitution itself will be thrust into the public sphere, at a point where it will be subject to the most intense scrutiny by the country’s elected representatives.
Dr Haddon said: “A general election is a great opportunity for people to take an interest in the Constitution and understand how the government operates.In some ways, it’s a very well-rehearsed period.It’s happened many times before.But… It also means our Constitution is alive, which is really interesting.”