What Happens To Parliament Now That A General Election Has Been Called?

Parliament is wrapping up its final business ahead of the general election, following Rishi Sunak’s announcement on Wednesday that the country would go to the polls on 4 July.

Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt has laid out the legislation MPs will get the chance to look at again before the Commons is prorogued and then later dissolved for weeks as the campaigning gets underway. 

So what will happen to Parliament now the General Election has been called? 

The Commons is currently in the middle of a process known as “wash-up”. 

According to the Parliament website, the term “refers to the last few days of a Parliament before dissolution” and points out that “the government may need the co-operation of the opposition of passing legislation that is still in progress”. 

Any business that is not finalised before the prorogation expected on Friday will be lost in its current form.

Mordaunt confirmed in her Business Statement to the Commons on Thursday that the Finance Bill, the Digital Markets Bill and Post Office Horizon Offences Bill will all get time in the Commons on Thursday. The Victims and Prisoners Bill, which will include mechanisms to compensate people impacted by the infected blood scandal, will be put before MPs on Friday.

She hinted that there could be further updates which could see other bills get time too. 

Parliamentary expert Dr Alice Lilly told PoliticsHome that in the coming hours the public won’t see very much of the process because “so much is just talks that happen behind the scenes between the whips” in the government and opposition teams as they negotiate what has the best chance of passing. 

Lilly, a senior researcher at the Institute for Government, predicted that the Post Office and Victims and Prisoners