Forcing an Election in UK

[Sysavoe]

As our present Labour government is doing such a bad job of running the country how can we, the public, force an election. I.e. How do we go about it? and what are the rules we would have to follow?

Or is it only the Queen that can dissolve parliament?

From reading so many comments attached to news on line articles it is very clear that so many of the public are really fearful about the incompetence of this Labour government.

It is not only their financial incompetence but all those mad and crazy laws they are proposing in order to subjugate the middle class, also they want details of every child over the age of eleven put on a database that will be able to be accessed by so many different people including anyone working in departments such as the NHS, Social Services, Schools, Local Government - and potentially any pervert working in these places could have access to info about your precious child.

This government is seriously subversive in so many ways and it must be stopped. They want to destroy this country - too many people haven't got a clue what they are up to.

Now Harriet Harman wants to destroy the aspirations of the 'middle classes'.

They are out and out communists.

They are seriously deluded and have to be got rid of and it will only be worse if we have to wait for the next scheduled election is 2010 as they will have done so much more damage by then.

People who think this Labour government cares about this country of ours are wrong.

[Totterdown]

I don't think the general public as such can force an election. I think it is up to a group of MP's to put forward a vote of no confidence, then every MP votes. If the government loses, then a general election would be announced. That is my thought. I may be wrong. If I am, I am sure there are enough people reading AnswerBank to put me right.

[LCDMAN]

Totterdown pretty well summed it up. Short of a true revolution and the overthrow of authority by force, pretty much the only way a Government can be "removed" , and a General Election called, if it looses a motion of "no confidence" in the House of Commons.

Such a vote can only be called for by the elected members and there is a minimum number required to table the motion calling for the vote. They can come from any part of the "house" (not just the "Opposition") so even a large enough bunch of Labour MPs could table such a motion (but would obviously only do so with the support/mandate of their local party members otherwise it is political suicide).

[rov1200]

I think the last thing this country needs right now is a general election. Ruling politicians get more blame or praise than they deserve. All the analysis and solutions are provided by unseen civil servants and they keep their jobs even when there's a change of government.

You can see this when a politician spouts out some grand idea only later to be corrected after the backroom boys get there hand on it. Remember when Brown said all our troops will be withdrawn by the end of 2008.