Updated 16 April 2024.
Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament before a general election. When Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant. MPs immediately revert to being members of the general public and those who wish to become MPs again must stand for election as candidates.
Within Parliament a dedicated General Election Planning Group is leading work to ensure Parliament is fully prepared for a general election to take place by January 2025.
The House has now published its revised dissolution guidance, which aims to help Members and Members’ staff understand the rules in place and the support available to them before, during and after the next election, including what to expect during the dissolution period.
You can find the guidance on the new parliamentary intranet, ParliNet.
There are separate areas for Members who are standing again and those who are not standing and a separate guide for Members’ staff which also includes information relating to boundary changes.
The full guidance is available as a PDF on Sharepoint
The checklists on ParliNet include useful material on each MP’s duties as an employer and how to prepare casework, with particular concern for data protection issues. Many things are time-critical, as staff passes are suspended five days after dissolution.
Handling personal data is a key aspect, and the Guidance for the use of personal data by elected representatives in carrying out constituency casework from the Information Commissioner’s Office will be invaluable.
There is also a page of Frequently Asked Questions on Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution on Parlinet.
There is also a lot of guidance on the IPSA website.
Please note that the guides etc may be updated before the election and so you should refer to ParliNet and not any stored web pages or PDFs for the latest guidance.
You may also find this report of interest: Smoothing the cliff edge: supporting MPs at their point of departure from elected office