In the United Kingdom, confidence motions are a means of testing the support of the government (executive) in a legislative body, and for the legislature to remove the government from office. A confidence motion may take the form of either a vote of confidence, usually put forward by the government, or a vote of no confidence (or censure motion), usually proposed by the opposition. When such a motion is put to a vote in the legislature, if a vote of confidence is defeated, or a vote of no confidence is passed, then the incumbent government must resign, or call a general election.
It is a fundamental principle of the British constitution that the government must retain the confidence of the legislature, as it is not possible for a government to operate effectively without the support of the majority of the people's representatives. At the national level, this means that the UK government (the Cabinet) must retain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons.
It is possible for a vote of no confidence to succeed where there is a minority government or a small majority, or where there are internal party splits leading to some members of the ruling party voting against its leaders. Where there is a minority government, the government may seek agreements or pacts with other parties in order to prevail in the vote and remain in office.
Despite their importance to the constitution, for a long time the rules surrounding motions of no confidence were dictated solely by convention. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, a vote of no confidence had to be passed in a specific form in order to create the possibility of an early general election. Under the Act, if the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence in the government in express terms, the House must then adopt a vote of confidence in that same or an alternative government within 14 days, or a general election would be held. These practices were ended in 2022, with the repeal of the 2011 Act.
A no-confidence vote was last successfully used on 28 March 1979, when the minority government of James Callaghan was defeated. A no-confidence vote can have the effect of uniting the ruling party; for this reason such motions are rarely used and successful motions are even rarer. Before 1979 the last successful motion of no confidence occurred in 1924. The most recent confidence vote instigated by the opposition was held on 16 January 2019, with the government prevailing.
Defeat of a motion of no confidence (or winning a vote of confidence) does not provide protection to the government in power for any specific length of time. MPs from any political party may propose another vote immediately, although are unlikely to do so due to convention and potential weakening of their own standing.
Forms Since 1945 there have been three votes of confidence and 23 of no confidence.
Confidence motions fall into three categories: Explicit motions initiated by the Government Explicit motions initiated by the Opposition Motions which can be regarded as issues of confidence because of particular circumstances.
Government A motion in this category is often effectively a threat of dissolution by the government, in order to persuade backbench MPs to support a bill. One such threat occurred in 1993 so that John Major could pass the Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty. In 2022, the outgoing government of Boris Johnson called a vote of confidence in itself after rejecting the wording of a proposed opposition motion that had signalled no confidence in both the government and Johnson's leadership specifically.
Opposition Opposition motions are initiated by the opposition party and often have little chance of success. By convention, a no-confidence vote takes precedence over normal Parliamentary business for that day, and will begin with speeches from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, rather than the ministers for the policy area which may be the concern of the motion. The motion may either profess no confidence in the Government itself, or no confidence in the particular policies of a government. Probably the most famous no-confidence motion was on the night of 28 March 1979 when Jim Callaghan's Labour Government fell from office by one vote, 311–310, in what was described by the BBC as one of the most dramatic nights in Westminster's history.
Particular circumstances Although there is no commonly accepted and comprehensive definition of a confidence motion, it is possible to identify confidence motions from their timing, the speakers and the terms of the motion. Motions of confidence are supportive of the government, whereas motions of no confidence are unsupportive of the government. It can be difficult to distinguish an opposition no-confidence motion from other opposition motions critical of government policy. The term censure motion can also refer to a category of motion which does not attempt to remove the government.
List of no-confidence votes
Successful votes before 1940
Prime Minister in office Party Date Subject of motion ResultMajority against the government Consequences Robert Walpole Whig 28 January 1742 Ministerial petition against the return of 2 Members of Parliament for Chippenham 235–2361 The Prime Minister resigned on 11 February 1742. Frederick North, Lord North Tory 27 February 1782 Motion to end offensive war in America 234–21519 The Government resigned on 22 March 1782. William Pitt the Younger Tory 2 February 1784 Motion of no confidence 223–20419 With the King's support, the Prime Minister refused to resign. Two more motions of no confidence were passed in the following weeks with smaller majorities. Once he was confident no further motions could be passed, the Prime Minister finally advised King George III to dissolve Parliament, which he did on 25 March 1784.1784 British general election Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Tory 15 November 1830 Motion to consider the Civil List in a committee 204–23329 The Government resigned on 16 November 1830. Robert Peel Conservative 7 April 1835 Report on the Irish Church 285–25827 The Government resigned on 8 April 1835.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 4 William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Whig 4 June 1841 Motion of no confidence 312–3111 The Prime Minister advised Queen Victoria to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 23 June 1841.Rallings & Thrasher (2000), p. 120 William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne Whig 27 August 1841 Amendment to the Address 269–36091 The Government resigned on 30 August 1841.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 6 Robert Peel Conservative 25 June 1846 Second Reading of the Irish Coercion Bill 219–29273 The Government resigned on 27 June 1846.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 8 Lord John Russell Whig 20 February 1851 Motion to assimilate county to borough franchise 100–5248 The Government resigned on 22 February 1851 but resumed on 3 March 1851. Lord John Russell Whig 20 February 1852 First Reading of the Local Militia Bill 125–13611 The Government resigned on 21 February 1852.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 11 Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Conservative 16 December 1852 Budget 286–30519 The Government resigned on 17 December 1852.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 14 George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen Peelite 29 January 1855 Vote in favour of a select committee to enquire into alleged mismanagement during the Crimean War 305–148157 The Government resigned on 30 January 1855.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 16 Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Whig 3 March 1857 Dissatisfaction with Government explanation of the Arrow affair and the start of the Second Opium War 263–24716 The Prime Minister advised Queen Victoria to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 21 March 1857. Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Whig 19 February 1858 Second Reading of the Conspiracy to Murder Bill 215–23419 The Government resigned on 21 February 1858.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 18 Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Conservative 10 June 1859 Amendment to the Address 323–31013 The Government resigned on 11 June 1859.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 21 John Russell, 1st Earl Russell Liberal 18 June 1866 Amendment to the Parliamentary Reform BillThe vote is not recorded in the online Hansard, but is referred to at 315–30411 The Government resigned on 26 June 1866.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 22 William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 12 March 1873 Second Reading of the Irish University Bill 284–2873 The Government resigned on 12 March 1873 but resumed on 20 March 1873. William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 8 June 1885 Budget 252–26412 The Government resigned on 9 June 1885.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 33 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Conservative 26 January 1886 Amendment to the Address 329–25079 The Government resigned on 28 January 1886.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 36 William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 7 June 1886 Second Reading of the Government of Ireland Bill 311–34130 The Prime Minister advised Queen Victoria to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 26 June 1886.Rallings & Thrasher (2000), p. 121 Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Conservative 11 August 1892 Amendment to the Address 350–31040 The Government resigned on 11 August 1892.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 39 Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery Liberal 21 June 1895 The Cordite Vote 132–1257 The Government resigned on 21 June 1895.Cook & Keith (1975), p. 42 Stanley Baldwin Conservative 21 January 1924 Amendment to the Address 328–25177 The Government resigned on 22 January 1924.Butler & Butler (1994), p. 8 Ramsay MacDonald Labour 8 October 1924 Motion in respect of the Campbell Case 364–198166 The Prime Minister advised King George V to dissolve Parliament, which he did on 9 October 1924.Rallings & Thrasher (2000), p. 122
Votes since 1940 The list below includes all confidence motions since 1945 and some between 1940 and 1945. Government-defeated motions are noted in bold.