Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that Parliament will be dissolved to allow for a General Election on 4 July.  Today is the last day Parliament is sitting.  Any legislation that does not complete its remaining stages before Parliament closes will fall and will not proceed unless reintroduced in the next session of Parliament, after the election.  This is likely to be the fate of the Renters Reform Bill, which has only recently been introduced to the House of Lords.

The Government continues to function during the pre-election period, but custom dictates that Ministers should not launch any major or long-lasting initiatives.  In any event, nothing can proceed that requires Parliamentary approval.  This rules out formal adoption of Awaab’s Law and other initiatives requiring implementation via secondary legislation such as regulations or other statutory instruments.  Ministers are also required not to act in their Ministerial capacities, that would be likely to affect support for any particular political party. The main political parties are likely to publish their Election Manifestos during the coming weeks, and we will summarise and compare their proposals and implications in this Bulletin.