Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament before a general election. When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant. MPs immediately revert to being members of the general public and those who wish to become MPs again must stand for election as candidates.
Within Parliament a dedicated General Election Planning Group is leading work to ensure Parliament is fully prepared for a general election to take place by January 2025.
The House has now published its revised dissolution guidance, which aims to help Members and Members’ staff understand the rules in place and the support available to them before, during and after the next election, including what to expect during the dissolution period.
You can find the guidance on the new parliamentary intranet, ParliNet.
There are separate areas for members who are standing again and those who are not standing.
The full guidance is available as a PDF on Sharepoint
The checklists on ParliNet include useful material on each MP’s duties as an employer and how to prepare casework, with particular concern for data protection issues. Many things are time-critical, as staff passes are suspended five days after dissolution.
Handling personal data is a key aspect, and the Guidance for the use of personal data by elected representatives in carrying out constituency casework from the Information Commissioner’s Office will be invaluable.
There is also a lot of guidance on the IPSA website, but this is likely to be updated in advance of the election.
Please note that the guides etc may be updated before the election and so you should refer to ParliNet and not any stored web pages or PDFs for the latest guidance.
Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament before a general election. When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant. MPs immediately revert to being members of the general public and those who wish to become MPs again must stand for election as candidates.
The House has now published its revised dissolution guidance, which aims to help Members and Members’ staff understand the rules in place and the support available to them before, during and after the next election, including what to expect during the dissolution period.
You can find the guidance on the new parliamentary intranet, ParliNet, and we have published our own page on w4mp to track the guidance.
Please note that the guides etc may be updated before the election and so you should refer to ParliNet and not any stored web pages or PDFs for the latest guidance.
Please note that links to the old Parliamentary intranet have been removed as of October 2023. Please use search on ParliNet to find relevant current details, if available.
https://parlinet.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-members-staff/
Time: 12:00 – 13:00
Date: Thursday 16 March 2023
Location: Online via Teams
Ahead of the next general election planning is under way, including to support new and departing MPs.
Come along to this online event you will hear more about what it takes and can ask questions to some of the key people involved.
For further information and to book, please visit this intranet page
With the prospect of a General Election looming, we have created a page with links to the official guidance on dissolution.
Our dissolution page will be updated with information and new links as we receive them.
Updated 8 November 2019.
Please note that links to the old Parliamentary intranet have been removed. Please use search on ParliNet to find relevant current details, if available.
https://parlinet.parliament.uk/house-of-commons-members-staff/
With the prospect of a General Election in sight, the House Authorities have published Dissolution Guidance for
- Members not standing at the General Election
- Members standing at the General Election
- Members’ staff
Please also see the Summary of changes to dissolution guidance for 2019 which gives updates on support services, Data Protection and GDPR, IPSA, Parliamentary Digital Service, Library Services, Security and the nursery.
- Dissolution Summary for Members
- Dissolution Summary for Members Staff
IPSA
IPSA’s General Election Guidance
IPSA Campaign Activities Guidance
Evidence Guidance
NB – ISPA has now removed the relevant pages from its website
HoC Library Services
You will no longer have access to the services of the House of Commons Library. If you have any subscriptions via the House of Commons Library, they will be suspended for the duration of dissolution. This includes RightsNet and and any newspapers and databases.
We will update this page as we receive further information.