Can Someone Explain Why Some Think The Pm Is Not Elected?

[ToraToraTora]

I don't get it, did she apply for the job in Evening standard or something? The leader of the party in Government is the PM! Or have I missed something? I have voted in every election since I could and I only ever voted for a local MP now I suppose that in Maidenhead they did vote for the PM but most of us did not, for this one or any other, so can someone explain, this sillyness it's beyond me.

[kvalidir]

So you can add lying, scheming, two-faced and self serving to hypocrite too then Jack. What strange qualities you admire.

[Jackdaw33]

She's a politician! Get with it!

[New Judge]

“The reason is because of living in a parliamentary democracy, where one votes for parties rather than individuals.SHE is not elected the party is,”

Completely and utterly wrong, klavidir.

In a General Election in the United Kingdom constituents vote for an individual to represent them at Westminster. They do NOT vote for parties. (They may cast their vote on the basis of whatever party their chosen candidate represents, but they do NOT vote for a party).

When all the MPs have been elected the Queen invites whoever she is advised can best form a government to Buckingham Palace and invites him or her to do so. Constitutionally, the appointment of a Prime Minister is in the gift of the Monarch. In practice the PM is usually the leader of the party with the most seats in the Commons. When a PM resigns between elections the same principle applies. Again the appointment of the new PM is in the gift of the Monarch and she would invite whoever she is advised can command authority in the Commons to become the new PM.

You are suffering from a fundamental misunderstanding of the constitutional setup of the UK. A simple question might dispel your notion that voters vote for parties. If that was the case, how do Independent MPs get elected?

[Jackdaw33]

Not been may of those for a long time, NJ. May have been a couple in NI but I cannot remember the last time an independent MP was elected on the mainland.

[Garaman]

Blimey, NJ, no need to patronise or shout, we all know that. We are just saying that, though that is the process, in reality people vote for the party rather than their local MP.

[Jackdaw33]

Some, though not many, MPs have a large personal following. I am thinking of Gwyneth Dunwoody who represented Crewe for Labour for many years. When she died the seat immediately fell to the Tories. The same applied in my constituency, represented for the Tories by the redoubtable Dame Irene Ward. Although the Tories held the seat for 20 years after she retired the majority dwindled and dwindled to the extent that it is now a safe Labour seat.

[Garaman]

A lot of people voted for Tony Blair in the early days. Not me I hasten to add.

[kvalidir]

NJ, Yes I do know that as does nearly everyone else here but what we technically legally do when we vote and what people do in reality are two quite separate things. Ask most people who leads the Tories or Labour and hopefully most will know, ask them who their own MP is and the number dwindles dramatically.Ask them who they voted for and very few will name the politician, they'll usually say 'I voted Conservative' or 'I voted Labour' etc as a complete entity, and at the pinnacle of that entity is the party leader. THAT is what people are trying to convey, we know how it legally works, but in reality people view their vote in this way most usually.

[Jackdaw33]

Nor me!

[Jackdaw33]

So what do you think should happen when a party changes leader mid-term?

[New Judge]

"...no need to patronise or shout, we all know that."

Well klavidir obviously doesn't. Apologies if I seemed to shout but there's no way to emphasise on AB (no bold or underline available).

[Garaman]

Nothing, Jackdaw, just carry on. We are merely discussing terminology and why a leader would be termed elected.

[Jackdaw33]

TM was elected as a Conservative MP. She was later elected by her colleagues as party leader. How many elections do you want?

[kvalidir]

NJ you are being deliberately and if I may say so, quite deliberately, obtuse here, for your own amusement. You know exactly what Garaman and I mean.
Love Klavichord x

[Garaman]

I don't want any more elections thanks, Jackdaw, I am just trying to explain why some differentiate between someone who was leader during the elections and someone who wasn't. Ignore them if you don't agree with their terminology.

[Jackdaw33]

I think that some on here might well choose to read 18/19C political history. Ministries came and ministries went, some only lasting weeks. As has been indicated earlier, the sole criterion for becoming PM is whether that person can command a working majority in parliament. If so, that person is PM. It was ever thus and will for ever continue to be so.

[Garaman]

We are talking about different things, Jackdaw. I am not questioning her right to be PM. She seems to be doing OK as well to me.

[mikey4444]

Mrs May was elected, in 2015, to be MP for Maidenhead. She was elected to the post of PM, by the Tory Party in the summer of 2016.

I don't have a problem with that as its the way other PMs have been elected to the post of PM, Labour and Tory.

[Jackdaw33]

Well what else are you talking about?

[mikey4444]

By the way, I am far from being a Tory supporter, but I will say that Mrs May seems to be doing a reasonable job at present, especially considering that she, like most Tory MPs, voted to stay in the EU.