Septennial Act 1715
Introduced by | Duke of Devonshire[2] (Lords) |
---|---|
Territorial extent | |
Dates | |
Repealed | 15 September 2011 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | Parliament Act 1911 |
Repealed by | Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of the Septennial Act 1715 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. |
The Septennial Act 1715 (
The Act's ostensible aim was to reduce the expense caused by frequent elections. It did not require parliament to last for a full term, but merely set a maximum length on its life. Most parliaments in the remainder of the eighteenth century did indeed last for six or seven years, with only two lasting for a shorter time. In the nineteenth century, the average length of a term of the
The Septennial Act 1715 was amended on 18 August 1911 by section 7 of the Parliament Act 1911 to reduce the maximum term of parliament to five years.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 repealed the Septennial Act 1715 in its entirety.
Provisions
The text of the Act is very short. As originally in force, it stated:
Be it enacted ... that this present Parliament, and all Parliaments that shall at any time hereafter be called, assembled, or held, shall and may respectively have continuance for seven years, and no longer, to be accounted from the day on which by the writ of summons this present Parliament hath been, or any future Parliament shall be, appointed to meet, unless this present or any such Parliament hereafter to be summoned shall be sooner dissolved by his Majesty, his heirs or successors.[6]
The Act overturned certain provisions of the
Aim and effects
The ostensible aim of the Septennial Act 1715 was, by reducing the frequency of elections, to reduce the cost during a given period of holding them. However, it may have had the effect of keeping the
Constitutionality
Prolongation of Parliament during the First World War and Second World War
During the First World War, a series of Acts was passed to prolong the life of the parliament elected in December 1910 until the end of the war in 1918. A series of annual Acts was also passed during the Second World War to prolong the parliament elected at the 1935 general election until the war in Europe had ended in mid-1945.[citation needed]
First World War
Short title | Citation | Date of assent | Maximum duration[a] |
---|---|---|---|
Parliament and Registration Act 1916 | 5 & 6 Geo. 5 . c. 100
|
27 January 1916 | 5 years and 8 months |
Parliament and Local Elections Act 1916 | 6 & 7 Geo. 5 . c. 44
|
23 August 1916 | 6 years and 3 months |
Parliament and Local Elections Act 1917 | 7 & 8 Geo. 5 . c. 13
|
26 April 1917 | 6 years and 10 months |
Parliament and Local Elections (No. 2) Act 1917 | 7 & 8 Geo. 5 . c. 50
|
29 November 1917 | 7 years and 6 months |
Parliament and Local Elections Act 1918 | 8 & 9 Geo. 5 . c. 22
|
30 July 1918 | 8 years |
Second World War
Short title Long title |
Citation | Date of assent | Maximum duration[a] |
---|---|---|---|
Prolongation of Parliament Act 1940 An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament. |
3 & 4 Geo. 6 . c. 53
|
6 November 1940 | 6 years |
Prolongation of Parliament Act 1941 An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament. |
4 & 5 Geo. 6 . c. 48
|
11 November 1941 | 7 years |
Prolongation of Parliament Act 1942 An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament and to provide for the extension of the duration of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland. |
5 & 6 Geo. 6 . c. 37
|
22 October 1942 | 8 years |
Prolongation of Parliament Act 1943 An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament and to provide for the extension of the duration of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland. |
6 & 7 Geo. 6 . c. 46
|
11 November 1943 | 9 years |
Prolongation of Parliament Act 1944 An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament and to provide for the extension of the duration of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland. |
7 & 8 Geo. 6 . c. 45
|
17 November 1944 | 10 years |
See also
References
- 'Book 1, Ch. 19: George I', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 306–25. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46736. Date accessed: 20 November 2006.
- short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ Noorthouck, John (1773). "Ch. 19: George I". A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark. Vol. Book 1. pp. 306–325. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
the bill originated in the house of peers, where it was introduced by the duke of Devonshire
- ^ Donald F Bur. Laws of the Constitution: Consolidated. University of Alberta Press. 2020. p xlvi.
- ^ As to the year of an Act, see Johnson, Privatised Law Reform, 2018, p 31; Johnson, Parliament, Inventions and Patents, 2018, note 1 to Introduction; Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, 6th Ed, 1911, vol 1, title "Act of Parliament", p 28.
- ^ Lease, Owen C. "The Septennial Act of 1716." The Journal of Modern History 22, No. 1 (1950): 42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1875879 (retrieved 30 December 2013)
- ^ The Statutes, vol. 2 (1871), p. 257
- ^ Derek Heater. Citizenship in Britain: A History. Edinburgh University Press. 2006. p 86. David Stasavage. Public Debt and the Birth of the Democratic State. Cambridge University Press. 2003. p 166, note 11.
- ISBN 978-0-19-957861-0.
External links
- Text of the Septennial Act 1715 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.