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The Opposition worries that the Government could promise one date for an election, and then change it by Royal Proclamation. Is this right, and does it matter?
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Under current law, it probably is right that the PM could change his mind on date. The date of an election is set by a Royal Proclamation issued by the Queen on the advice of her Government.
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Therefore, in theory, HMG could procure an election from Parliament on the basis that it would set a pre-Halloween date, advise the Queen to proclaim that pre-Halloween date, then later advise the Queen to proclaim a post-Halloween date while Parliament was not sitting.
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The only caveat to that is that, if ministers are abusing their powers and or exercising those powers for improper purposes, the courts might be persuaded to intervene. However, the bar for that is high. These matters may not even be justiciable.
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What can MPs do about it, if they want to take the option of a date change away from the PM? The only watertight option is to pass an Act of Parliament providing that a general election is to be held on a particular date.
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If HMG opposed such legislation, that confrontation would involve the same procedural battle we are in now: MPs trying to take control of the order paper, questions over whether the Speaker allowed this, questions over whether HMG would try to refuse Royal Assent.
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Does all this matter? That depends, mainly, on whether legislation to stop no deal passes. If it does, MPs need not be so jittery about a pro-Halloween election. In fact, the PM is likely to want a pre-Halloween GE, so he does not get his fingerprints on the A50 extension.
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If legislation to stop no deal does not pass, then it could matter a great deal whether the PM is bound to a particular date for the election. And, as above, the only way to bind him is with statute.
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