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Septennial Act 1715
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title:	An Act for enlarging the Time of Continuance of Parliaments, appointed by an Act made in the Sixth Year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, intituled An Act for the frequent meeting and calling of Parliaments
Statute book chapter:	1715 c.38 (1 Geo I St 2)
Introduced by:	Duke of Devonshire[1]
Territorial extent:	England and Wales; Scotland
Dates
Date of Royal Assent:
Commencement:
Other legislation
Amendments:	Parliament Act 1911
Related legislation:
Status: Current legislation
Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database
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The Septennial Act 1715 was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain in May 1716^{citation needed} (1715 c.38, 1 Geo I St 2), to increase the maximum length of a Parliament (and hence between general elections) from 3 years to 7 years.

The previous limit of 3 years had been set by the Triennial Act 1694 in the Kingdom of England. The ostensible aim of the Act was to reduce election expenses, but it also had the effect of keeping the Whig party, who had won the 1715 general election, in power for longer - and they won the eventual 1722 general election.

It did not require Parliaments to last that long, but merely set a maximum length on their life. Most Parliaments in the remainder of the 18th century did indeed last 6 or 7 years, with only two lasting for less time. In the 19th century the average length of a parliament of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was four years.

The Act was amended in 1911 by the Parliament Act 1911 to change the limit to five years, and then again during the World Wars to extend the Parliaments elected in the 1910 and 1935 general elections until the European wars had ended in 1918 and 1945. One of the demands of the mid-19th-century Chartists (the only one which was not achieved by the 20th century) was for annually-elected parliaments.

See also

• List of Parliaments of Great Britain
• List of Parliaments of the United Kingdom

References

• 'Book 1, Ch. 19: George I', A New History of London: Including Westminster and Southwark (1773), pp. 306-25. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=46736. Date accessed: 20 November 2006.

External links

• Official text of the statute as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database