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or held, shall and may respectively have continuance for seven years, and no longer, to be accounted from the day on which by the writ of summons this present
Parliament hath been, or any future Parliament shall be, appointed to meet, unless this present or any such Parliament hereafter to be summoned shall be sooner dissolved by his Majesty, his heirs or successors.
279:
Be it enacted by the King's most excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that this present Parliament, and all Parliaments that shall at any time hereafter be called, assembled,
236:
The act's ostensible aim was to reduce the expense caused by frequent elections. It did not require
Parliament to last for a full term, but merely set a maximum length on its life. Most parliaments in the remainder of the eighteenth century did indeed last for six or seven years, with only two
912:
329:
Madison drew a distinction between "a
Constitution established by the people and unalterable by the government, and a law established by the government and alterable by the government." The Act was also criticized by
62:
An Act for enlarging the Time of
Continuance of Parliaments, appointed by an Act made in the Sixth Year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, intituled, "An Act for the frequent meeting and calling of
296:
The ostensible aim of the
Septennial Act 1715 was, by reducing the frequency of elections, to reduce the cost during a given period of holding them. However, it may have had the effect of keeping the
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907:
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225:) from three years to seven. This seven-year ceiling remained in law from 1716 until 1911. The previous limit of three years had been set by the
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used the
Septennial Act 1715 as an illustrative example of the difference between the traditional British system and the revolutionary new
892:
84:
335:
68:
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363:
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repealed the
Septennial Act 1715 in its entirety. It has since been reenacted, with minor differences, as section 4 of the
17:
682:'Book 1, Ch. 19: George I', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 306–25. URL:
238:
221:. It was passed in May 1716. It increased the maximum length of a parliament (and hence the maximum period between
260:
155:
297:
897:
305:
301:
342:, Bolingbroke wrote that the "constitution is the rule by which our princes ought to govern at all times".
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829:. David Stasavage. Public Debt and the Birth of the Democratic State. Cambridge University Press. 2003.
245:—the only one that had not been achieved by the twentieth century—was for annually elected parliaments.
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the bill originated in the house of peers, where it was introduced by the duke of
Devonshire
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lasting for a shorter time. In the nineteenth century, the average length of a term of the
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Donald F Bur. Laws of the
Constitution: Consolidated. University of Alberta Press. 2020.
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253:
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192:
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710:. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the
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until the end of the war in 1918. A series of annual Acts was also passed during the
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Derek Heater. Citizenship in Britain: A History. Edinburgh University Press. 2006.
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as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from
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as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from
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Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the House of Commons
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304:, in power for a longer time. The Whigs won the following general election
346:
Prolongation of Parliament during the First World War and Second World War
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to Introduction; Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, 6th Ed, 1911,
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The text of the act is very short. As originally in force, it stated:
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As to the year of an Act, see Johnson, Privatised Law Reform, 2018,
354:, a series of Acts was passed to prolong the life of the parliament
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Maximum duration of the existing parliament as extended by the act
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was four years. One of the demands of the mid-nineteenth century
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A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark
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to reduce the maximum term of a parliament to five years.
248:
The Septennial Act 1715 was amended on 18 August 1911 by
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http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46736
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and to provide for the extension of the duration of the
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and to provide for the extension of the duration of the
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An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament.
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An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament.
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An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament
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An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament
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and to provide for the extension of the duration of the
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An Act to extend the duration of the present Parliament
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848:. Oxford University Press. 17 May 2012. p. 2.
845:Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law
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444:Parliament and Local Elections (No. 2) Act 1917
666:List of acts of the Parliament of Great Britain
366:until the war in Europe had ended in mid-1945.
265:Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022
172:Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022
796:Lease, Owen C. "The Septennial Act of 1716."
284:The act overturned certain provisions of the
396:Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
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88:
908:Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament
362:to prolong the parliament elected at the
461:Parliament and Local Elections Act 1918
427:Parliament and Local Elections Act 1917
410:Parliament and Local Elections Act 1916
336:Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
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903:Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1716
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606:House of Commons of Northern Ireland.
581:House of Commons of Northern Ireland.
556:House of Commons of Northern Ireland.
391:Parliament and Registration Act 1916
802:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1875879
737:. Vol. Book 1. pp. 306–325
671:List of parliaments of Great Britain
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599:Prolongation of Parliament Act 1944
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549:Prolongation of Parliament Act 1942
528:Prolongation of Parliament Act 1941
505:Prolongation of Parliament Act 1940
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893:Election law in the United Kingdom
787:, title "Act of Parliament", p 28.
777:Parliament, Inventions and Patents
686:. Date accessed: 20 November 2006.
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873:Text of the Septennial Act 1715
619:10 years – to 18 November 1945
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209:. c. 38), sometimes called the
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702:was authorised by the
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422:6 years and 3 months
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231:Parliament of England
898:Election legislation
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211:Septennial Act 1716
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729:"Ch. 19: George I"
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85:Duke of Devonshire
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250:section 7
243:Chartists
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563:. c. 37
538:. c. 48
473:8 years
467:. c. 22
450:. c. 50
433:. c. 13
416:. c. 44
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110:Scotland
69:Citation
741:12 June
516:. c. 53
306:in 1722
252:of the
217:of the
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781:note 1
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785:vol 1
338:. In
323:. In
119:Dates
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773:p 31
743:2008
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298:Whig
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