Citation 1 Geo 1 St 2 c 38 Repealed 15 September 2011 | Introduced by Duke of Devonshire Amended by Parliament Act 1911 | |
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Long title An Act for enlarging the Time of Continuance of Parliaments, appointed by an Act made in the Sixth Year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, intituled An Act for the frequent meeting and calling of Parliaments Territorial extent England and Wales and Scotland | ||
The Septennial Act 1716 (1 Geo 1 St 2 c 38), also known as the Septennial Act 1715, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. It was passed in May 1716. It increased the maximum length of a parliament (and hence the maximum period between general elections) from three years to seven. This seven-year ceiling remained in law from 1716 until 1911.
Contents
- Provisions
- Prolongation of Parliament during the First World War
- Prolongation of Parliament during the Second World War
- References
The previous limit of three years had been set by the Triennial Act 1694, enacted by the Parliament of England. The ostensible aim of the Septennial Act was to reduce election expenses, but it also had the effect of keeping the Whig party, which had won the 1715 general election, in power for a longer time – the Whigs won the eventual 1722 general election.
The Act 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 less time. In the nineteenth century the average length of a term of the Parliament of the United Kingdom was four years. One of the demands of the mid-nineteenth-century Chartists (the only one which had not been achieved by the twentieth century) was for annually-elected parliaments.
The Septennial Act was amended on 18 August 1911 by section 7 of the Parliament Act 1911 to reduce the maximum term of parliament to five years. 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 European 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 European war had ended in early 1945.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 repealed the Septennial Act in its entirety.
Provisions
The text of the Act is very short. As originally in force, it stated:
Prolongation of Parliament during the First World War
The Parliament elected at the December 1910 general election, and which first met in late January 1911, was due to expire in early 1916 in accordance with the five-year limit set by the Parliament Act 1911. Because of the ongoing war in Europe, a series of Acts was passed to prolong its life until the fighting had ended.
Prolongation of Parliament during the Second World War
The duration of the Parliament elected at the 1935 general election, and which first met in late November 1935, was also extended by a series of Acts passed to prolong its life until the fighting in Europe had ended. In contrast with the previous war's legislation, this was achieved more simply by a series of annual prolongations.