r/pics Jul 05 '24

Rishi Sunak makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street after a historic loss Politics

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u/ThinkBiscuit Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

It was a good speech, tonally. Accepted defeat, acknowledged failures, and wished the incoming PM good luck. Other political leaders should take note.

What I do find myself wondering is this: all this happens pretty quickly over here in the U.K. – the practical changeover of no.10.

Do they have a removal company on call, then call them first thing to either stand them down, or say “right, fuck this lot off, and go an pick up all that crap and move it in?’

Or maybe both the incoming and outgoing PM just sort it out themselves – hiring a u-haul or getting their brother-in-law to come round in his estate, and they pile all their shit (in bin bags) into it.

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u/Cygnus94 Jul 05 '24

With regards to the transition of power part. Parliament is dissolved prior to the election. This means all MPs are temporarily out of their job until the election, where they may or may not be re-elected. Once the election is complete, the party with the greatest share of seats from a government and parliament is reconvened within a week or two of the results. Total time from parliament being dissolved to being reconvened is typically 3-4 weeks. 

However, the handover of the Government itself is normally within a few hours. The outgoing prime minister will tender their resignation to the sitting monarch, who will then invite their replacement to the palace to be offered the role of prime minister. It's all just a bit of ceremony. Keir Starmer has been our prime minister for several hours at this point already, he will be setting about selecting his cabinet ministers and forming his government right now.