Motion of No Confidence - Overview

Overview

Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no confidence in an existing government, the head of state must respond in one of two ways:

• ask another individual, whom he or she believes will command the confidence of parliament, to try to form a government;
• dissolve the elected parliament and call a general election to elect a new parliament.

In determining whether another individual can command the confidence of parliament, the head of state examines whether that individual has the backing of a parliamentary party, a coalition of parties and MPs, or an agreement of support with enough parliamentary seats to withstand any confidence challenges. If this cannot be done, parliament is dissolved and a general election is called.

In some cases, the sitting government will request that the head of state dissolve the elected parliament and call a new election without seeking the forming of another Government, such that it would remain in power during the election period. The head of state may agree to do this, depending on factors such as time until a mandated election, reasonable expectation of the forming of another government or in very rare circumstances, on royal prerogative alone. However, where the head of state believes the government no longer has the confidence of the responsible house (i.e., the directly elected lower chamber which can select and dismiss it; in some states both houses of parliament are responsible), a head of state may refuse a request for a parliamentary dissolution, so forcing an immediate resignation.

This procedure is either formalized through constitutional convention, as is the case in Westminster style parliaments such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, or explicitly stated in a written constitution, as is the case with Germany and Spain.

Sometimes, the government will choose to declare that one of its bills is a motions of confidence. This may be used to prevent dissident members of parliament from voting against it. Sometimes (depending on the country) a government may lose a vote because the opposition ends debate prematurely when too many government members are away.

In the Westminster system, the defeat of a supply bill (one that concerns the spending of money) automatically requires (by convention) the resignation of the government or dissolution of Parliament, much like a non-confidence vote, since a government that cannot spend money is hamstrung. This is called loss of supply.

Where the upper house of a Westminster system country has the right to refuse supply, such as in Australia during the events of 1975, the convention becomes a grey area as Westminster governments are not normally expected to maintain the confidence of the upper house.