Wash-up period
The wash-up period is the last few days while a Parliament of the United Kingdom continues to sit after the Prime Minister has announced the date when Parliament will be dissolved so a general election can be held but before Parliament has been formally adjourned, prorogued or dissolved.
Purpose
During the wash-up period, the
opposition
parties.
Traditionally, Parliamentary bills could not be carried forward from one session of Parliament to another. Although Parliament's standing orders have allowed
public bills to be carried forward to the next session of the same parliament since 2004 (and on an ad-hoc basis since 1999), bills still cannot be carried forward to the new parliament formed after a general election. If a bill does not receive royal assent
before Parliament rises, it will be lost, although a new bill could be reintroduced after the general election.
If necessary, an
Houses of Parliament during the wash-up period. In rare cases, there may also be time for private member's bills
that have almost completed the legislative process to be passed.
Protocol
A wash-up period is not mandatory: the Prime Minister may seek permission from the
Sovereign in order to dissolve Parliament immediately, in which case all outstanding Parliamentary business will be lost. The last time an election was called with no wash-up period was 1924, when Parliament was dissolved immediately on 9 October and the general election held 20 days later. In 2001, Parliament was dissolved six days after the dissolution was proclaimed, after Parliament had been adjourned without being prorogued. In 1997
, Parliament was prorogued four days after the date of the election was announced, but Parliament was not dissolved until another 18 days later.
See also
References
- General Election timetable 2010
- Wash-Up: Bills Receiving Royal Assent, 1987–2005, House of Lords Library Note LLN 2010/011, 30 March 2010
- Election Timetables, House of Commons Library Research Paper 09/44, 13 May 2009
- Parliament's wash-up's a stitch, Martin Bell, The Guardian, 28 March 2010