Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Scotland – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 18 October 2005.
David Cairns
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Scotland Office
2:30,
18 October 2005
I thought that the hon. Gentleman was going to suggest combining the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union with the 300th anniversary of the SNP winning a By-election—[Interruption.] I am informed that it is not actually that long; it just feels like it.
If the hon. Gentleman wants to talk about the best political way of celebrating the event, which is in May 2007, it would be for the voters of Scotland to consign to the dustbin of history once and for all the narrow nationalism and separatism that would hold Scotland back, as opposed to the strength of the Union that has done Scotland tremendously well over 300 years.
A by-election occurs when a seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant during the lifetime of a Parliament (i.e. between general elections) because the sitting MP dies, resigns, is elevated to the peerage, or becomes ineligible to sit for some other reason. If a vacancy occurs when the House is in session, the Chief Whip of the Party that formerly held the seat moves a Motion for a new writ. This leads to the by-election taking place. Prior notice does not have to be given in the Order Paper of the House. There is no time limit in which a new writ has to be issued, although by convention it is usually done within three months of a seat becoming vacant. There have been times when seats have remained empty for more than six months before a by-election was called. The sitting party will obviously choose a time when they feel confident of success. Seats are often left vacant towards the end of a Parliament to be filled at the General Election though this is not always the case and by-elections have sometimes occurred just before the dissolution of Parliament. While a vacancy exists a member of the same party in a neighbouring constituency handles constituency matters. When the new Member is elected in the by-election, all outstanding matters are handed back. Further information can be obtained from factsheet M7 at the UK Parliament site.
