andrewducker | (Reply)

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I've noted already how, if Hammond and others stick by their determination not to vote for confidence in Boris (though, judging by Tory rebels of the past, they probably won't stick to it), he'll never become PM.

But where does it say that May is not allowed to leave office until she can confidently recommend a successor? Is that a relic of the FTPA or some other recent legislation? Because in the olden days (certainly 18C, and I think 19C as well) governments not only announced their resignations but actually left office in circumstances of chaos, leaving the monarch fumbling around for a few days, calling in various political leaders to ask if they could form a government. Sometimes they'd say no. Sometimes they'd say they'd try; sometimes it would turn out they couldn't.

In modern circumstances, with instant communication and nuclear bombs and all, it's harder to imagine such an interval, and certainly May might feel morally obliged to stick to it until the situation cleared up, though because it's dependent on Brexit, clear up is something it may never do. But where's the legal requirement? What would happen if May suddenly died? There's all kinds of rules and laws in place for the death of the monarch, but what about the PM? Aside from the presumption that the monarch would call in the Deputy PM on a temporary basis, if there is a Deputy PM which right now there isn't, I can't think of anything except reversion to consultation. The last PM to actually die in office was Palmerston in 1865; he had an obvious successor, but it was still 11 days until he was officially commissioned.