Quote:
Originally Posted by peanut
What happens if/when Sunak loses the election and his seat. Can he still be the party leader?
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You can legally lead the party without being an MP. The Green co-leader Carla Denyer is a Bristol city councillor but their only MP is Caroline Lucas. But the Greens’ party constitution permits that. Whether the Tory party constitution permits it is another matter (and I don’t know the answer).
If the Tories are the second largest party, and Sunak is not elected, he can’t be leader of the opposition because that is an appointment specific to the House of Commons. Even if Sunak did not immediately resign as leader after losing his seat the Tories would have to nominate someone to be leader of the opposition by the time the Commons sat for the first time.
(If the Tories won the election but Sunak lost his seat he could continue to be Prime Minister until another one was chosen, because the PM does not by law have to be a member of either House, although it would be utterly extraordinary for him not to be … they would either have to immediately make him a Lord so he could serve in the interim, or else he would immediately resign and the next most senior MP would have to step in, probably promising to be an interim figure while a leadership election was held. But none of tha’s going to happen.
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