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Inparliamentary democracies, especially those based on theWestminster system,confidence and supply is an arrangement under which aminority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one or more parties or independent MPs onconfidence votes andthe state budget ("supply"). On issues other than those outlined in the confidence and supply agreement, non-government partners to the agreement are not bound to support the government on any given piece of legislation.[1][2]
Acoalition government is a more formal arrangement than a confidence-and-supply agreement, in that members from junior parties (i.e., parties other than the largest) gain positions in thecabinet andministerial roles, and are generally expected to hold the governmentwhip on passing legislation.
In most parliamentary democracies, members of a parliament can propose a motion of confidence[a] or of no confidence in the government or executive. The results of such motions show how much support the government currently has in parliament. Should a motion of confidence fail, or a motion of no confidence pass, the government will usually either resign and allow other politicians to form a new government, or call an election.
Most parliamentary democracies require an annual state budget, called anappropriation bill or supply bill, or occasional financial measures to be passed by parliament in order for a government to pay its way and enact its policies. The failure of a supply bill is in effect the same as the failure of a confidence motion. In early modern England, the withholding of funds was one ofParliament's few ways of controlling themonarch.
TheAustralian Labor PartyGillard government formed aminority government in thehung parliament elected at the2010 federal election resulting from a confidence-and-supply agreement with threeindependent MPs and oneGreen MP.[4]
Following the2023 New South Wales state election, theLabor opposition reached 45 out of 47 seats required for a majority. Independent MLAs,Alex Greenwich,Greg Piper, andJoe McGirr entered into a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Labor government.
Following the2024 Tasmanian state election, the incumbentLiberal government reached 14 out of 18 seats required for a majority. TheJacqui Lambie Network, along with Independent MHAs,David O'Byrne andKristie Johnston entered into a confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberal government.
Following the2024 Australian Capital Territory election, theACT Labor Party party reached 10 out of 13 seats required for a majority, with theACT Greens holding the balance of power with 4 seats. Unlike the previous three elections, Labor and the Greens did not enter into acoalition government. Instead, the Greens pledged to provide confidence and supply to a minority Labor government.[5][6]
In November 2008, theLiberal Party and theBloc Québécois signed a confidence agreement to support a proposed coalition. However, the proposed agreements fell apart in January 2009, as a result of an ensuingparliamentary dispute.[7][8]
In 2022, a few months into the44th Canadian Parliament, the NDP agreed to a confidence-and-supply agreement with the governing Liberal Party, to continue theLiberal minority government. The deal was intended to keep the minority Liberal government in power until 2025, with the NDP agreeing to support the government on confidence motions and budget votes. In exchange, the Liberal government pledged to advance work on key NDP policy priorities on dental care, pharmaceutical drugs, and affordable childcare.[9] NDP leaderJagmeet Singh announced the early termination of the agreement on 4 September 2024.[10]
2017–2020
After the2017 British Columbia provincial election, theGreen Party of British Columbia agreed to a confidence-and-supply agreement in support of theBritish Columbia New Democratic Party.[11] The incumbentBritish Columbia Liberal Party, which held a plurality of seats, briefly tried to form a government, but was immediately defeated in a confidence vote by the NDP and Greens.[12] The agreement, which was intended to remain in effect until the nextfixed election in October 2021, was ended early when premierJohn Horgan requested the lieutenant governor call asnap election in 2020.[13]
2024–present
The NDP and Green Party announced on 13 December 2024 that they had concluded a confidence and supply agreement, the2024 Co-operation and Responsible Government Accord, after the NDP won a slim 1-seat majority government a few months earlier in the2024 provincial election.[14] The agreement will have the Green Party support the NDP government on all confidence votes for a term of four years, subject to annual renewal, in exchange for cooperation on shared policy goals like expanding health care funding and public transit.[15][16]
On 2 November 2018 (less than two months after the2018 New Brunswick general election) thelegislative assembly voted 25–23 for a motion, introduced by theProgressive Conservatives, to amend the throne speech todeclare no confidence in the government. Subsequently, PremierBrian Gallant indicated his intention to resign the premiership and recommend to the lieutenant governor that PC leaderBlaine Higgs be given the mandate to form a minority government: "I will go see the lieutenant-governor at her earliest convenience to inform her that I will be resigning as premier, and I will humbly suggest to her honour to allow the leader of the Conservative Party to attempt to form a government and attempt to gain the confidence of the house".People's Alliance leaderKris Austin said he would work with the new government "in the areas we agree on," and reiterated his promise to support the Progressive Conservatives on confidence votes for a period of 18 months.Green Party leaderDavid Coon said he would start working with the Tories in an attempt to ensure his party's issues were on the government's agenda.[17]
Twenty-two days after the1985 Ontario provincial election, theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario government resigned after avote of no confidence, and theOntario Liberal Party formed a government with the support of theOntario New Democratic Party.[18] The agreement between the two parties was referred to as "The Accord".[19]
After the2021 territorial election resulted in theYukon Liberal Party and theYukon Party winning the same number of seats, the third placeYukon New Democratic Party agreed to provide confidence and supply to a Liberal minority government.[20]
Third Front national governments were formed in1989 and1996 with outside support of one of the two major parties,BJP orCongress.
TheCPI-M gave outside support to the Congress Party from 2004 to 2008, but later withdrew support after theIndia–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement.
After the2016 general election,a minority government was formed byFine Gael and some independents, with confidence and supply (Irish:muinín agus soláthar[21]) support fromFianna Fáil in return for a published set of policy commitments from the government.[22] Fianna Fáil abstained on confidence and supply votes, but reserved the right to vote for or against any bill proposed in theDáil orSeanad. The deal lasted until the32nd Dáil was dissolved on 14 January 2020 for ageneral election to be held in February 2020.[23][24]
In Italy, the equivalent of confidence and supply is called "external support" (Italian:appoggio esterno). Starting from the 1950s through the 1970s there were various examples ofChristian Democratic cabinets being able to govern thanks to confidence and supply agreements with other minor parties. Most famously, theAndreotti III Cabinet was formed in 1976 with a confidence and supply agreement between the Christian Democrats and theItalian Communist Party, referred to as "thehistoric compromise" (Italian:il compromesso storico), in which the Communist Party agreed not to vote against the government during confidence votes.
TheDini Cabinet, formed in 1995, and theMonti Cabinet, formed in 2011, weretechnocratic governments which relied on the support of the main parties in Parliament during confidence votes.
InJapan, the equivalent of a confidence and supply arrangement is called "extra-cabinet cooperation" (閣外協力,kakugai kyōryoku). The latest such agreement was made after the 1996 House of Representatives election between theSecond Hashimoto Cabinet, anLDP single-party government somewhat short of majorities in both houses, and two parties which had formed the governing coalition with the LDP until the election: theJSP andShintō Sakigake (NPH/NPS/Sakigake). By 1997, the LDP had gained a House of Representatives majority of its own through accessions (seeNew Frontier Party) and was hoping to regain full parliamentary control in the 1998 House of Councillors election. Instead, the cooperation agreement was ultimately terminated while the government lost seats in the 1998 election, leaving clear control to the opposition, a so-called"Twisted Diet". The Hashimoto Cabinet resigned to give way for anew cabinet led by prime minister Keizō Ōbuchi which entered formal negotiations with other parties to form acoalition government by January 1999 (First Reshuffled Obuchi Cabinet).
In 2025, the LDP andIshin no Kai agreed to sign a confidence and supply agreement.[25]
There is another implicit form of cooperation where (usually very small) parties which are not part of the cabinet join one of the ruling parties in jointparliamentary groups in one or both houses of the National Diet and vote with the government.
A confidence and supply agreement was signed on 13 September 2021 betweenBarisan Nasional andPakatan Harapan to strengthen political stability amid theCOVID-19 pandemic. This is the first such agreement signed to ensurebipartisan cooperation.[26]
In New Zealand, confidence and supply arrangements are common due to theMMP system used in the country. The parties providing confidence and supply have a more prominent role than in other countries, with MPs from the support parties often being appointed toministerial portfolios outside of Cabinet.[27] New Zealand codified the procedures it used to form these Governments in itsCabinet Manual.[28]
John Key'sNational Party administration formed a minority government in2008 thanks to a confidence-and-supply agreement with theACT,United Future and theMāori Party.[29] A similar arrangement in2005 had led toHelen Clark'sLabour Party forming a coalition government with theProgressive Party, with support on confidence and supply fromNew Zealand First andUnited Future. After the2011,2014 elections, National re-entered confidence-and-supply agreements with United Future, the ACT Party, and the Māori Party. In 2017, despite National winning more votes than Labour in the election, New Zealand First chose to enter coalition with Labour to help them change the government, with support on confidence and supply from the left-wingGreen Party.[28]
In September 2025, thePeople's Party (successor to the now-dissolvedMove Forward Party, winner of the2023 Thai general election) formed an agreement with theBhumjaithai Party to lend its votes toAnutin Charnvirakul, enabling him to become the 32nd prime minister of Thailand under the conditions that theAnutin cabinet must commit to a nationwide referendum on constitution amendments, and the dissolution of parliament within 4 months.[30] This agreement followed the fall of thePaetongtarn cabinet due to the2025 Thai political crisis and is relatively unusual. Scholars noted that minority governments and confidence-and-supply agreements were virtually unheard of in Thai politics.[31] Moreover, the parties involved sit on opposite sides of the political spectrum: Bhumjaithai is staunchly conservative, while the People's Party is progressive, its predecessor having been dissolved due to its calls for monarchy reform.[32][33] A factor that led to this "unlikely alliance" was a peculiarity of the 2017 constitution, which limited candidates for prime minister to those whose names had been submitted by a party prior to the general election. This meant that despite being the largest party in the House of Representatives, the People's Party could only support a candidate of one of its ideological rivals.[34]
Between 1977 and 1978,Jim Callaghan'sLabour Party stayed in power thanks to a confidence-and-supply agreement with theLiberal Party, in a deal which became known as theLib–Lab Pact. In return, the Labour Party agreed to modest policy concessions for the Liberal Party.[35][36]
In the aftermath of the2017 general election which leftTheresa May'sConservative Party without a majority,a confidence-and-supply agreement was agreed with theDemocratic Unionist Party which lasted until the2019 general election.[37]
Confidence and supply deals are more frequent in the devolved legislatures of Scotland and Wales due to the use ofproportional representation. TheScottish National Party andScottish Green Party had aconfidence and supply deal in theScottish Parliament between 2021 and 2024.[38][39] TheWelsh Labour Party andPlaid Cymru had a similar co-operation deal in theWelsh Assembly between 2016–October 2017 and2021–2024.[40][41]
