What is a vote of no confidence?

A vote of no confidence is a vote in the House of Commons on whether MPs still support the government. If the government loses, it is expected to resign or call a general election. The term is also used for votes by a party's MPs on whether to keep their leader.

Confidence is the foundation of UK government. A government must be able to command a majority in the Commons. The Leader of the Opposition can table a motion of no confidence, and by convention the government finds time to debate it. Some votes, such as on the Budget or the King's Speech, are also treated as tests of confidence. Losing one is rare.

Governments rarely lose such votes because they usually have a majority. The last time a government fell this way was in 1979. The Labour government lost by a single vote, 311 to 310, triggering a general election. Since the Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed in 2022, the rules again rest on convention rather than a statutory process. Ministers sometimes make a vote a confidence matter to force rebels into line.

Parties hold their own confidence votes on leaders. Conservative MPs can trigger one if enough of them write to the chair of the 1922 Committee. Labour has a separate process based on challengers gaining nominations. These votes can remove a party leader, and with it a Prime Minister, without any general election. Party confidence votes have ended several leaders' careers in recent decades.