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 o ...
(MP) as a
minister in the
cabinet. The requirement for new ministers to stand for re-election was introduced in the
House of Commons of Great Britain in 1707 and also featured in
Westminster system parliaments modelled on it. In latter times, the by-election was usually a formality,
uncontested
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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 ...
,
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, Tran ...
,
and
Dominion of New Zealand never had them.
In
dualistic parliamentary systems, like those in the
Netherlands
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,
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, 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, 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 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 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 (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'' (f ...
'' 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 senio ...
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
general election,
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
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 ...
as a
private member's bill, ended the practice in all other cases.
Canada
Ministerial by-elections also occurred in the federal
House of Commons of Canada 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, 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 192 ...
from Canada, abolished Ministerial by-elections in 1928. The
North-West Territories also used ministerial by-elections during the period of
Responsible Government 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 South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...
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 h ...
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 presidin ...
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, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...
in 1947.
Sources
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*
*
*
See also
*
Dualism (politics)
Dualism in terms of politics, refers to specific political concepts that are related to functional or structural duality of a particular political system. In some states, functional dualism is manifested through the division of power between tw ...
*
Norwegian Law (Israel)
The Norwegian Law ( he, החוק הנורווגי, ''HaḤok HaNorvegi''), initially Mini-Norwegian Law ( he, החוק הנורווגי הקטן) for its first version, is a name given to an amendment to the Basic Law: The Knesset, one of the Ba ...
References
{{reflist
By-elections
Westminster system
Government ministers