House of Commons (United Kingdom)/Addendum
Votes of confidence
Votes of confidence have in the past taken one of three forms[1]
- a "confidence" motion", initiated by the Government;
- a "no confidence motion" initiated by the Opposition; and,
- any motion whatever its terms, where the House of Commons has been made aware that it is voting on the immediate fate of the Government.
However, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011 stipulates that the passage of a no confidence motion is one of the alternative conditions necessary for the calling of a general election (another being a motion for the dissolution of parliament). It also stipulates that a general election must be called unless, within 14 days of the passage of such a motion, the successor government wins a confidence motion[2]. It is not clear whether a defeat on a motion in the third of the above categories would still count as a vote of no confidence (for example, it is not clear whether a defeat on the Government’s budget would be considered as a vote of no confidence). It would be possible, however, for a Government to make it clear, before such a division on such motion, that they considered it to be a matter of confidence - a procedure that past governments have used to make their supporters aware of the importance of particular motions. The loss of a vote of confidence need not result in the resignation of a Prime Minister if he or she is able to gain the confidence of Parliament in a new government under his or her leadership, for example by dissolving a coalition or assembling a new coalition.