Can fixing the parliamentary term be expected to reduce electoral incumbency advantages? The UK’s 2011, Fixed-term Parliaments Act aims to prevent incumbents from scheduling early elections for political benefit. Yet, the view that flexible election timing gives incumbents an unfair advantage remains contested. The literature on opportunistic election calling – including the signalling effects of this strategy and the competence of governments that select it – lends support to both sides in the debate. This paper examines how far the divergent arguments apply in the UK. Using observed outcomes and a potential outcomes approach, we investigate to what effect incumbents have used election timing. Our results suggest that governments can improve their re-election chances when they have discretion to time elections to favourable circumstances instead of facing voters at set intervals when conditions may not be advantageous. Fixed parliamentary terms are likely to reduce that incumbency advantage significantly.
