What happens when parliament breaks up before the general election?,UK Election 2015, UK election News, British Election

What happens when parliament breaks up before the general election?

When MPs head back to their constituencies to ask for people to vote for them, what happens back in Westminster?

The Palace of Westminster will clear out later this week before the election - but many will wonder who's running the country during this time.

Of course, the campaign has effectively been underway for a while now, but it doesn't officially start until parliament dissolves.

But when does that happen? And who's running the country when there are no MPs in Westminster? Do we technically even have a Prime Minister for the next month or so? Here's everything you need to know about what happens between now and the election.

When does parliament dissolve?

Parliament officially dissolves for the election on March 30th. At that point the House is vacated and all the MPs become normal members of the public. This theoretically gives all candidates a level playing field when campaigning for votes.

What happens between now and then?

Between now and then we enter what's known as the "wash up" period - which means Parliament will deal with any unfinished business.

The pressure of time often forces compromises on bills that haven't been passed yet - and can lead to criticism that controversial measures are approved without proper scruitny.

Before the 2010 election, 18 bills were dealt with during the wash up - including the controversial Digital Economy Act, which campaigners feared would see people forced off the internet for copyright infringement.

This time around, there are concerns over a complex finance bill, published last Thursday, which paves the way for a crackdown on tax avoidance by multinationals.

At the end of the wash-up, something called "prorogation" happens - that's when an announcement is made in the Lords and Commons on behalf of the Queen, listing the major bills that have been passed in the last year.

Since March 30th is a Monday, that'll probably happen on the Friday before - which is when most MPs will pack up and go home.

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So, there are no MPs after March 30th?

Nope, and we enter a period called 'purdah'.

Purdah is the name given to the period between parliament dissolving and the election results coming in.

During this time members of central and local government aren't allowed to make any announcements on new initiatives that might give them an advantage over their opponents in the election.

So who's running the country?

Technically David Cameron remains Prime Minister until he goes to see the Queen after the election is won or lost. Ministers remain in charge of their departments, but purdah means they can't announce anything new.

And because they're now just average-joe members of the public now, they're not allowed to call themselves MPs after March 30th.

Special advisors to ministers are politically appointed by their parties, but are paid out of public funds - so if they want to be involved in the election campaign, they have to resign.

Civil servants remain employed, but don't tend to do much during this period.

What happens after the election?

It's likely there won't be a clear outcome of this election - the coalition negotiations in 2010 took several days, and it's probably going to take even longer this time.

When either one party has a majority - or has enough support in the house to pass a Queen's Speech, through coalition or an informal deal with other parties - David Cameron will visit the Queen to tell her what happens next.

If he's won, he'll tell her he's going to form a government. If not, he'll give her his personal resignation, and invite another party leader to form a government.

Once that's done, each newly elected MP will be individually signed into the Commons and they'll elect a Speaker of the House - currently Tory MP John Bercow.

 src:mirror.co.uk

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