A constitutional thought..

[janzman]

..during the 60 minutes or so we were without a Prime Mininster, ie between HM accepting GB resignation and DC accepting invitation to govern,in the hypothetical event of a terr@rist attack, who would be in charge of the country ie who has their thumb on the nuclear button.......I wonder.....

[NoMercy]

HM.

[janzman]

HM Her Majesty....................

[craft1948]

Peter Mandelson I'd think.....

[craft1948]

oh sorry......wrong queen.

[NoMercy]

Apparently she hates being responsible, even for such a short duration.

[DrFilth]

gb would phone obama and ask for permission and advice, then have a chat with his wife.

[bobjugs12]

Me!

[naomi24]

Craft - love it! Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[boxtops]

Bobs is probably the most qualified!

[joggerjayne]

The authority of Her Majesty to govern the Nation is, constitutionally, delegated to Parliament, headed by the PM (supposedly!) ... which is why the PM only forms a Government at the invitation of The Queen.

In the absence of an effective Parliament, or PM, then the authority to govern the Nation reverts, as Nomercy says, to Her Majesty.

[craft1948]

Well I voted for Call Me Dave......

[bobjugs12]

To be honest I don't know. However i'd imagine in the absence of Government the responsibility for Defence would probably fall to the Military (ie Chief of the Defence Staff) until a new Government could be formed

[bobjugs12]

Steve, Cameron and the Tories did win the election. They didn't get a majority but the got the most votes

[boxtops]

Heaven forbid if HM was otherwise engaged, the privilege might have gone to HRH Prince Flipflop.....

[Prudie]

Would it not be Harriet harman, wasn't she still deputy PM or doesn't it work like that?

[joggerjayne]

Guys ... who is the "Head of State" ?

The Queen.

Parliament and the Prime Minister only govern by virtue of constitutional convention.

[boxtops]

I'm with Bobs on this one. The MoD was my first thought too.

[bobjugs12]

Sorry guys, I misread the question. It would be the Queen.
For some reason I read it as no Government or Monarchy.

I must stop drinking own-brand cola!

[joggerjayne]

No, it would not be Harriet Harman.

When Gordon Brown called the General Election, the Queen dissolved Parliament.

The Govenrment, which is a sub-division of the ruling party in Parliament, therefore technically ceased to exist ... and Govt Ministers ceased to have any authority except through the conventional indulgence of the head of state ... Her Majesty.