A ministerial by-election is a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to fill a vacancy triggered by the appointment of the sitting

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) as a minister in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. The requirement for new ministers to stand for re-election was introduced in the

House of Commons of Great Britain The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of th ...

in 1707 and also featured in Westminster system parliaments modelled on it. In latter times, the by-election was usually a formality,

uncontested John_Carpenter_was_disqualified,_prompting_his_teammates_John_Taylor_(athlete).html" ;"title="John_Carpenter_(athlete).html" "title="Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres">men's 400 metres running in a walkover. Americ ...

by the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

. In the United Kingdom, ministerial by-elections were abolished as an anachronism in 1926. The

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, and

Dominion of New Zealand The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire. New Zealand became a separate British Crown colony in 184 ...

never had them. In dualistic parliamentary systems, like those in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, ministers cannot be sitting MPs at the same time. Therefore, the appointment of a sitting MP as a minister triggers a vacancy in Parliament. If the normal rule for filling vacancies is holding a by-election (rather than a substitute automatically filling the vacancy, for example), a dualistic parliamentary system would thus have ministerial by-elections too.

Westminster

Ministerial by-elections were a feature of the House of Commons of Great Britain, and its successor the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

, from 1707 to 1926. Seventeenth-century English history established the doctrine of

parliamentary sovereignty Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all ...

, in particular from interference by the monarch. In 1624, the

House of Commons of England The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England (which incorporated Wales) from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of ...

resolved that an MP could not resign his seat, and in 1680 it resolved that accepting an

office of profit An office of profit means a position that brings to the person holding it some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. It may be an office or place of profit if it carries some remuneration, financial advantage, benefit etc. It is a term used in ...

from

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

would precipitate resignation from the House. Sections 24 and 25 of the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 listed ministerial offices among those considered offices of profit, while mitigating this by allowing the option of standing for re-election.Isaacs 2005, p.34; A minister typically sought re-election in the same

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

he had just vacated, but occasionally contested another seat which was also vacant. As a rule, the requirement to stand in a by-election only applied when an elected legislator was first appointed to a portfolio. Any ministers already holding portfolios were not required to contest additional by-elections to remain ministers after being returned in a subsequent

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

(assuming, of course, that their party managed to remain in government). The

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 (known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...

made

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

s easier by abolishing the necessity to seek re-election for an existing minister taking a new portfolio.Pugh 2008 In 1910 ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper noted that the relevant Act had been passed in the reign of Queen Anne "to prevent the Court from swamping the House of Commons with

placemen In the political history of Britain, placemen were Members of Parliament who held paid office in the civil service, generally sinecures, simultaneously with their seat in the legislature. William and Mary Placemen exerted substantial influence ...

and pensioners", and described the process as "anomalous" and "indefensible" in the 20th century. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, temporary acts in 1915 and 1916 suspended the requirement for re-election, in order to allow the

War Cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior ...

s of the

Asquith coalition ministry The Asquith coalition ministry was the Government of the United Kingdom under the Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from May 1915 to December 1916. It was formed as a multi-party war-time coalition nine months after the beginning of the Firs ...

and the

Lloyd George ministry Liberal David Lloyd George formed a coalition government in the United Kingdom in December 1916, and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King George V. It replaced the earlier wartime coalition under H. H. Asquith, which had ...

to be appointed quickly. The

Re-Election of Ministers Act 1919 The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

ended the requirement within nine months of a

, and the

Re-Election of Ministers Act (1919) Amendment Act 1926 The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

, introduced by the

as a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

, ended the practice in all other cases.

Canada

Ministerial by-elections also occurred in the federal

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

until 1931, and in Canadian provincial assemblies. One controversy within the 1926 King–Byng Affair was prime minister

Arthur Meighen Arthur Meighen (; June 16, 1874 – August 5, 1960) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and fro ...

's appointment of "acting ministers" to circumvent the need for by-elections. Ministerial by-elections were abolished by the Legislative Assemblies of Alberta in 1926, of Quebec, of New Brunswick, and of Nova Scotia in 1927, of British Columbia in 1929, of Prince Edward Island in 1932, of Saskatchewan in 1936, of Manitoba in 1937, and of Ontario in 1941 (partially in 1926).Isaacs 2005, p.40 In addition

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, at the time a separate

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

from Canada, abolished Ministerial by-elections in 1928. The

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

also used ministerial by-elections during the period of

Responsible Government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...

from 1897–1905.Saskatchewan Executive and Legislative Directory: North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876-1905 , url=http://www.saskarchives.com/sites/default/files/documents/NWT-Council.pdfelections

Australia

Most of the legislatures of the British colonies in Australia required ministerial by-elections, though the federal House of Representatives created in 1901 and the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

created in 1857 never did. The requirement was abolished in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

in 1884, the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

in 1901, the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

in 1906, the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

in 1915, and the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

in 1947.

Sources

* * * * *

References

{{reflist By-elections Westminster system Government ministers

Westminster

Canada

Australia

Sources

See also

References