Early Election - Why Not ?

[Bazile]

Why doesn't the PM call an early election ,instead of waiting until 2020 .

She would win hands down .

[ichkeria]

The comparison with 1974 is hardly reliable, or encouraging: Wilson had no realistic choice in Feb 1974 but to go it alone: there was no large 3rd party bloc worth speaking of, although the Liberals did remarkably well.
So he limped on for a few months, before achieving a stunning 3-seat majority in October. That lasted a barely 3 years until he formed the Lib Lab pact with Jeremy Thorpe.

There won't be an election now because, as already noted, someone would have to call a vote of no confidence in the govt: probably the govt itself, which would be slightly surreal. And might well lose, which would be even more surreal
Fixed term parliaments seem like one of those things which looked opportunistic in 2010 but now looks rather less so :-)

[Jackdaw33]

Heath could also have gone it alone.He was only four seats behind Labour. His defeat was largely due to the Powellites who followed him in voting Labour beause of their anti-EEC stance.

[naomi24]

Mikey, //after all, she was elected as an MP but not as a PM. //

You mean like Gordon Brown?

[Jackdaw33]

Yes, we don't elect PMs just MPs. Other examples are Eden, Macmillan, Home, Callaghan, Major.

[Jackdaw33]

Of the above only Eden called an election immediately after becoming PM.

[New Judge]

In the last 100 years the office of Prime Minister has changed hands 24 times. On twelve of those occasions the change was effected without a General Election.

[Hopkirk]

We can't mess around with elections, there is important work to be done getting out of the EU asap.

[tonyav]

To right, Hopkirk.

[Davemano]

I'm with Hopkirk on this.

[New Judge]

Quite so, as I touched upon in my first answer:

“…and they may well consider it not worth the bother (as they have more important things to concern them).”

The previous administration and the Coalition was identified by its constant prevarication, delay and postponement of decisions (“the decision will be taken after the General Election; a decision will be announced in the autumn). Enough, already. JFDI.