Could there be a general election this year?

Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked by Liz Truss in the latest blow to the Conservative party. The former Chancellor, who had been in post for just 38 days, said he accepted the Prime Minister's request for him to 'stand aside' from his role on Friday (October 14).

Mr Kwarteng flew back early from International Monetary Fund talks in Washington to be informed of his fate in a brief meeting with the Prime Minister, it was reported. His departure may give Ms Truss some brief breathing space as she seeks to shore up her battered authority after weeks of turmoil following his “fiscal event” last month.

However it will also raise fresh questions about her chances of survival – because she was closely linked to the policies that caused the problems. The commitments to reverse a hike in national insurance rates and ditch a planned rise in corporation tax, without explaining how they would be paid for, were the key planks of her leadership election campaign.

After the financial markets took fright – with the pound plummeting against the dollar and the cost of government borrowing soaring – the Conservatives have seen their opinion poll ratings tank. But could there be another early general election?

UK Prime Ministers and their respective parliaments can only serve a term of five years from the day on which they first meet. The current parliament met on December 17 2019 and is set to dissolve on December 17 2024.

Polling Day would be expected to take place 25 days later - so the next general election would be held in January 2025. However, no official date has yet been set.

Unusually, there have been three general elections in recent years, with the last taking place on December 12, 2019, which saw Boris Johnson move into Number 10. Before that, there was one on June 8 2017 and May 7 2015, seeing Theresa May and David Cameron take office respectively.

Who decides for a snap general election to be called?

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has lead calls for a general election in response to Kwarteng's sacking. He said: “This mustn’t just be the end of Kwarteng’s disastrous chancellorship, it should be the death knell of the Conservatives’ reckless mismanagement of our economy. It didn’t suddenly start with Kwarteng but it must end now.

“People are angry, fed up and worried about the future. Most of all they are furious that Conservative MPs seem to think this is an acceptable way to conduct the government of our country in these difficult times. Enough is enough. It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy, it is time for the people to have their say in a general election.”

But for an early general election to be called, it is typically up to the Prime Minster themselves to make the decision. This hasn’t always been the case though, as in 2011, a law was passed that removed the PM’s power to call an early election.

Instead, it was the House of Commons that made the decision under certain conditions, such as two-thirds agreeing to a vote. This law was reversed in 2019 though, with the Tories introducing a new law called the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, reports the Mirror.

After this was passed, Prime Ministers once again had the power to call a general election when they decide.

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