Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Prime Minister – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 May 1987.
Mr John McWilliam
, Blaydon
12:00,
12 May 1987
Given that the Prime Minister will accept that we in the north are looking forward to the election, will she tell the House why she, with her huge Majority, has chosen 11 June as the election date? What has she to hide in the economic figures?
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
