westlondonmist Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 No incumbent prime minister has lost their seat, and the leader of a party who won an election has never lost their seat so there is no precedent. In the 18th and 19th century a PM could sit in the Lords.  I would imagine the leader stays as leader, a new PM put in place and a safe seat has a by election within 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 probably speaks volumes to where I live that the only election leaflets I've received are for Labour and the Communist Party. Our local commie is a massive TERF, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TibBo Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 "Vote for me... or I'll get the hacksaw" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 (edited) 2 hours ago, SuperBacon said: @JNLister You're the best man to ask, and I've seen an answer before but would like your knowledge. What would happen if either Sunak or Starmer lose their seat but their party win the election? Strictly speaking there's no rule that says the PM has to be in Parliament at all. Alec Douglas Home was in the Lords when he became PM, renounced his Earldom, and wasn't in Parliament for the next 20 days until he won a by-election. Given that was the 60s, I suspect "technically its OK for the PM to be a Lord" just wouldn't fly. The technical answer would be a sitting PM would have the choice between making himself a Lord or persuading somebody in a safe seat to resign and then hopefully winning a by-election to become an MP. Having lost his seat wouldn't automatically mean he was no longer PM. If it was the opposition winning the election: When you appoint a new PM its meant to be "the person best placed to command the confidence of the commons", which translates in practice as leader of the party/grouping with the most seats. There's at least a strong implication that's the leader of the parliamentary party, not the wider party, and that you'd have to be an MP these days to become PM. In this example, I suspect Starmer would be unofficially told the King would be very uncomfortable appointing them as PM if they weren't in Parliament and you'd probably have a bit of a crisis. In an ideal world either Sunak would agree to stay on a few weeks or another member of the winning party (possibly Angela Rayner) would be appointed PM on the understanding they'd step down if and when Starmer was in Parliament. In practice, nobody with a small majority in their constituency ever gets to be a major party leader. So if your party wins a majority but you lose your seat, you've probably fucked up personally somehow. So you trying to be PM from the Lords wrecks your party's reputation, while you fighting a by-election in even a "safe" seat is just asking for trouble and you'll probably find every other party withdraws and unites behind David Attenborough, who beats you. If the Tories somehow won and Sunak lost his seat, I strongly assume he'd just add "Won a general election majority" to his CV and get straight on the plane to California, telling the King to FaceTime him when the Tories had a new leader and he needed to resign. Edited June 20 by JNLister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 (edited) . Edited June 20 by JNLister Liverpool, 1986. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JNLister Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 (edited) . Edited June 20 by JNLister Liverpool, 2001, (domestic cups, secondary Europe) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 Possibly the least unwelcome triple post ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted June 20 Moderators Share Posted June 20 I wonder how personally expensive Sunak's failed premiership has been for his family, on the basis of if he'd never done it his wife wouldn't have ever started to pay (some) taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 5 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said: I wonder how personally expensive Sunak's failed premiership has been for his family, on the basis of if he'd never done it his wife wouldn't have ever started to pay (some) taxes. I'm sure that in the future it will come out how much money his family and hers have made from contracts directed their way by the government. I'd bet they come out alright, and I don't have any inside knowledge. Honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuperBacon Posted June 20 Author Members Share Posted June 20 16 minutes ago, Carbomb said: Possibly the least unwelcome triple post ever. I very much appreciate the edit tags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Dead Mike Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: probably speaks volumes to where I live that the only election leaflets I've received are for Labour and the Communist Party. Our local commie is a massive TERF, though. I've not seen a single poster, sign pole etc in anyones house for the Tories. Which given I live in a Tory constituency is both surprising and pleasing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 7 minutes ago, Dead Mike said: I've not seen a single poster, sign pole etc in anyones house for the Tories. Which given I live in a Tory constituency is both surprising and pleasing. Like wise. Very safe Tory town (one of the towns Thatcher built is how it was known in the 80’s) and nothing. We did have an Tory campaigner pop round and he didn’t get a great reception from my wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted June 20 Paid Members Share Posted June 20 We’ve only received Labour and Reform leaflets here. Despite having skin in the game, there’s no presence whatsoever from Lib Dem, Green, or Tory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted June 20 Moderators Share Posted June 20 I think I've had one from the Tories, a million from Labour and nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SuperBacon Posted June 20 Author Members Share Posted June 20 (edited) 22 minutes ago, Dead Mike said: I've not seen a single poster, sign pole etc in anyones house for the Tories. Which given I live in a Tory constituency is both surprising and pleasing. Same, every other house has a Lib Dem board or sign, and again this is a Tory "safe" seat* Bravermans in the next constituency along, would be glorious if she went, but like I said the other day, I spend quite a bit of time in Fareham and I'd be shocked if she lost. Edit: scrap that, it's not at all. I'm thinking of where I used to live. Edited June 20 by SuperBacon ITS UP FOR GRABS NOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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