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Asnap election is anelection that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections inparliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as ahung parliament where no singlepolitical party has a majority of seats, when the incumbentprime minister is defeated in amotion of no confidence, to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity, or to decide a pressing issue. Snap elections are called under circumstances when an election is not required by law or convention.

A snap election differs from arecall election in that it is initiated by politicians (usually the head of government or ruling party) rather than voters, and from aby-election in that a completely new parliament is chosen as opposed to merely filling vacancies in an already established assembly.^[1][2] Early elections can also be called in certain jurisdictions after a ruling coalition is dissolved if a replacement coalition cannot be formed within a constitutionally set time limit.

Since the power to call snap elections (thedissolution of parliament) usually lies with the incumbent head of government (such as aprime minister), they often result in increased majorities for the party already in power provided they have been called at an advantageous time.^[3] However, snap elections can also backfire on the incumbent resulting in a decreased majority or in some cases the opposition winning or gaining power. As a result of the latter cases, there have been occasions in which the consequence has been the implementation of fixed-term elections.

According to Section 84 of theConstitution of Belize, theNational Assembly must be dissolved "five years from the date when the two Houses of the former National Assembly first met" unless dissolved sooner by thegovernor-general upon the advice of the prime minister.^[4]

Since Belize gained independence from theUnited Kingdom in September 1981, snap elections have been called twice, in1993 and2012. In March 2015, Belizean Prime MinisterDean Barrow ruled out the possibility of a snap election later in the year.^[5] In theNovember 2015 general election, Prime Minister Barrow'sUnited Democratic Party increased its majority by 9 percent as it made Belizean history, forming its third consecutive government.^[6]

InCanada, snap elections at the federal level are very common. Section 50 of theConstitution Act, 1867 andsection 4 of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms limits the maximum life of afederal parliament to five years following the return of the lastwrits of election.^[7] A law was passed toset the election date on the third Monday in October in the fourth calendar year after the previous poll, although courts found it effectively legally unenforceable and not binding on the prime minister. Any election that occurs before the schedule is a snap election.

During his 10 years as prime minister,Jean Chrétien recommended to thegovernor general to call two snap elections, in 1997 and 2000, winning both times.Wilfrid Laurier andJohn Turner, meanwhile, both lost their premierships in snap elections they themselves had called (in 1911 and 1984, respectively). The most notable federal snap election isthat of 1958, wherePrime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker called an election just nine months after theprevious one and transformed hisminority government into the largestmajority in thehistory of Canada up to that date.

A snap election was also called in the province of Ontario in 1990, three years into PremierDavid Peterson's term. Peterson was polling at 54%, lower than his peak popularity but still well above the opposition party leaders, and expected to be re-elected with comfortable majority. However, the1990 Ontario general election backfired since it was interpreted as a sign of arrogance, with some cynically viewing it as an attempt to win another mandate before an anticipated economic recession. In the biggest upset in Ontario history, theOntario New Democratic Party led byBob Rae won an unprecedented majority government while Peterson lost his own seat to a rookie NDP candidate. A similar result occurred in Alberta in2015 when PremierJim Prentice of the governingProgressive Conservative Association of Alberta called a snap election. A few months before, 11 MLAs including their leader from the official oppositionWildrose Party had crossed the floor to sit with the government. However, the province was entering an economic recession due to the abrupt2010s oil glut, and Prentice's budget was not well received by either the political left or right. The resultingAlberta New Democratic Party majority victory unseated 13 cabinet ministers and ended 44 years of Progressive Conservative government in Alberta.

In 2021, sitting Liberal Prime MinisterJustin Trudeaucalled a snap election in an attempt to win a majority, up from his previous minority government. He justified the snap election as a way for Canadians to choose which government leads them through Canada's recovery from theCOVID-19 pandemic. However, Trudeau was widely criticized for calling the snap election while the country was in the midst of a 4th wave of Covid.^[8] Following the election Trudeau managed to remain Prime Minister, but theLiberal Party failed to win a majority government.^[9]

In 2025, Liberal Prime MinisterMark Carneycalled a snap election for 28 April 2025, nine days afterreplacing Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Canada.^[10]

TheConstitution of Peru allows for the dissolution of Congress by thePresident if a vote of no-confidence is passed two times by the legislative body, who then has four months to call for new parliamentary elections or faces impeachment.^[11] The2020 Peruvian parliamentary elections were declared after PresidentMartín Vizcarra dissolved Congress.^[12]

There are three procedures in which federal elections can be held early in Australia:

• The maximum term of theAustralian House of Representatives is 3 years. However, the chamber can wait several months after the election to make its first sitting, while a campaign period of at least 33 days is needed between the dates that the election is called and held. It is the norm for the chamber to be dissolved early by theGovernor-General before its term expires, which is done on the advice of thePrime Minister.
• Half of theAustralian Senate (excluding the seats representing territories) changes over every three years in July. An election for the half about to change over must take place up to a year before this is due, on a date determined by the government. By convention, the elections of both chambers have usually been held on the same day. If the previous Senate election was held close to the changeover, the next Senate election can be held significantly earlier.
• Adouble dissolution may be called to resolve conflict between the two chambers, in which case the entire membership of both chambers comes up for election. This requires at least one bill that originated in the House of Representatives (often called a "trigger") to be rejected twice by the Senate under certain conditions. In this case, the next Senate changeover is due in the second month of July after the election, while the House of Representatives begins a new 3-year term.

Examples of early elections in Australia:

• 1963 election: Liberal Prime MinisterRobert Menzies called an early election for the House of Representatives because the government were struggling to govern with their narrow 2-seat majority in the chamber. The government succeeded in gaining 10 seats. The election left the House and Senate elections out of synchronization until 1974.
• 1974 election: Thedouble dissolution election focused on Labor Prime MinisterGough Whitlam's first1+1⁄2 years in office and whether the Australian public was willing to continue with his reform agenda, and also to break a deadlock in the Senate after Opposition LeaderBilly Snedden announced that the opposition would block the Government's supply bills in the Senate following theGair Affair. The Whitlam government was subsequently returned with a reduced majority in the House of Representatives but increased presence (but no majority) in the Senate, allowing the government to pass six reform bills in a joint sitting of the two houses of the Australian parliament.
• 1975 election: The election followed the controversial dismissal of the Whitlam government by Governor-General SirJohn Kerr in the1975 constitutional crisis and the installation of Opposition LeaderMalcolm Fraser as prime minister. Labor believed it had a chance of winning the elections, and that the dismissal would be an electoral asset for them but the Coalition attacked Labor for the economic conditions they presided over, resulting in the Coalition winning a record victory, with 91 seats in the House of Representatives to the ALP's 36 and a 35–27 majority in the expanded Senate.
• 1983 election: While an election was not due for seven more months,Malcolm Fraser had been emboldened by the unexpected victory in a 1982 by election which his Liberal Party was expected to lose. Fraser also sought to exploit divisions in the opposition Labor Party, and was surprised to learn that the popularBob Hawke had won the Labor Party leadership on the day he sought a dissolution. Ultimately, Labor won power and defeated the Fraser government on a 24-seat swing—the largest defeat of a sitting government since 1949, and the worst defeat a sitting non-Labor government has ever suffered.
• 1984 election: This election was held 18 months ahead of time in order to bring the elections for the House of Representatives and Senate back into line. They had been thrown out of balance by the double dissolution of 1983. It was widely expected that the incumbent Hawke Labor government would be easily re-elected, but an exceptionally long 10-week campaign, confusion over the ballot papers and a strong campaign performance by Liberal leader,Andrew Peacock, saw the government's majority reduced (although this was disguised by the increase in the size of the House from 125 to 148).
• 1998 election: The election on 3 October 1998 was held six months earlier than required by the Constitution. Prime MinisterJohn Howard made the announcement following the launch of the coalition'sGoods and Services Tax (GST) policy launch and a five-week advertising campaign. The ensuing election was almost entirely dominated by the proposed 10% GST and proposed income tax cuts.
• 2010 election: A federal election was held on Saturday, 21 August 2010, which was called relatively early in order to give Prime MinisterJulia Gillard – who had won the prime ministership outside of an election fromKevin Rudd – a greater mandate. The election ended in a hung parliament, and a resultant retaining of Labor's majority in the House of Representatives after negotiations withindependents and theGreens.
• 2021 Tasmanian state election:LiberalPremierPeter Gutwein called the election a year early after the Liberalmajority government fell into aminority government. The Liberals won the 2021 state election with a majority of one seat, withLabor forming opposition and thecrossbench being composed ofGreens and independents.
• 2024 Tasmanian state election: Liberal PremierJeremy Rockliff called the election a year early for the same reason as Gutwein (his predecessor).
• 2025 Tasmanian state election: Rockliff called another early election just over a year after the previous one after a motion of no confidence passed.

In the states and territories, all exceptTasmania havefixed election dates legislated into their constitutions or electoral laws and snap elections can only be called in extraordinary circumstances when certain conditions are met (loss of confidence,loss of supply or, in thebicameral legislatures, adeadlocked bill). InWestern Australia, thePremier retains the ability to call a snap election at any time despite the fixed election dates. In theAustralian Capital Territory, the federal government also has the ability to call a snap election in instances of incapacitation or gross misconduct of theLegislative Assembly. Asfederal territories constituted under federal legislation, the federal parliament also has the ultimate power to call a snap election in the ACT and theNorthern Territory through the normal legislative process, although this has never occurred.

AfterKhaleda Zia'sBangladesh Nationalist Party five-year term ended in January 1996, the country went to the polls on15 February 1996, where elections were boycotted by all major opposition parties including BNP'S arch-rivalSheikh Hasina'sAwami League. The opposition had demanded a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, but it was rejected by the incumbent government and the election went on as scheduled. The BNP won by default, grabbing all the 300 seats in theJatiya Sangsad and assumed power. The Awami League and its allies did not accept the results and called a month-long general strike and blockades to overthrow the BNP government. The general strike was marred by bloody violence including a grenade attack on Awami League's headquarters which killed scores of people. On the other hand, theSupreme Court of Bangladesh annulled the election results which forced the BNP government to amend the constitution in a special parliamentary session by introducing the Caretaker government system as a part of the electoral reform. Eventually the BNP government was toppled and ousted when they resigned on 31 March 1996, and handed over power to the caretaker government. The caretaker government stayed in power for 90 days before new elections could be held. Finally a snap election was held on12 June 1996, where Awami-League won a simple majority by beating its bitter rival BNP and stayed in power for the next five years.

• 1998 general election: General elections were held inIndia in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called whenIndian National Congress (INC) left theUnited Front government led byI.K. Gujral, after they refused to drop the regionalDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party from the government after the DMK was linked by an investigative panel to Sri Lankan separatists blamed for theassassination of Rajiv Gandhi.^[13] The outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority. Although theBharatiya Janata Party'sAtal Bihari Vajpayee regained his position ofprime minister getting support from 272 members out of 543, the government collapsed again in late 1998 when theJ. Jayalalithaa'sAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, with its 18 seats, withdrew their support, leading to new elections in 1999.
• 1999 general election: General elections were held inIndia from 5 September to 3 October 1999, a few months after theKargil War. The13th Lok Sabha election is of historical importance as it was the first time a united front of parties managed to attain a majority and form a government that lasted a full term of five years, thus ending a period of political instability at the national level that had been characterised by three general elections held in as many years.

On 17 April 1999, theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government led by Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee failed a to win aconfidence vote in theLok Sabha (India's lower house), falling short a single vote due to the withdrawal of one of the government's coalition partners – theAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). The leader of the AIADMK,J. Jayalalithaa, had consistently threatened to withdraw support from the ruling coalition if certain demands were not met, in particular the sacking of theTamil Nadu government, control of which she had lost three years prior. The BJP accused Jayalalithaa of making the demands in order to avoid standing trial for a series of corruption charges, and no agreement between the parties could be reached leading to the government's defeat.^[14]

Sonia Gandhi, asleader of the opposition and largest opposition party (Indian National Congress) was unable to form a coalition of parties large enough to secure a working majority in the Lok Sabha. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion,PresidentK. R. Narayanan dissolved the Parliament and called fresh elections. Atal Bihari Vajpayee remainedcaretaker prime minister till the elections were held later that year.^[15]

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After thelegislative election in April 2019 resulted in a political stalemate afterYisrael Beiteinu refused to join aLikud-led governing coalition, on the day transitional prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu's mandate for coalition formation ended, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself (preventing presidentReuven Rivlin from transferring the mandate for coalition formation to the second-largest partyBlue and White's leader,Benny Gantz, with respect to the process defined by the law). Thus, asnap legislative election was called, which resulted in a similar stalemate. After both Likud and Blue and White failed to form a coalition, athird consecutive snap election resulted in yet another stalemate. Progress has been made due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and consequently thethirty-fifth government of Israel was formed. However, another snap election was held in2021 after collapse of the coalition government.

InJapan, a snap election is called when aprime minister dissolves thelower house of theNational Diet. The act is based on Article 7 of theConstitution of Japan, which can be interpreted as saying that the prime minister has the power to dissolve the lower house after so advising theEmperor. Almost all general elections of the lower house have been snap elections since 1947, when the current constitution was enacted. The only exception was1976 election, when the Prime MinisterTakeo Miki was isolated within his ownLiberal Democratic Party. The majority of LDP politicians opposed Miki's decision not to dissolve the lower house until the end of its 4-year term.

Nationally, elections for president and parliament in Kazakhstan are held every seven and five years, respectively. According to the Constitutional Law, thePresident may call a snap election for both and must held no later than two months respectively after which they are called.^[16]

Virtually every presidential election in Kazakhstan since independence had been held ahead of schedule in1999,2005,2011,2015,2019, and2022. In which the reasoning behind for consecutive snap elections were due to economic and political factors with allegations for the Kazakh leadership to systemically maintain its grip on power while leaving the opposition consolidated and unprepared.^[17][18]

• 2019 presidential election: Long-time presidentNursultan Nazarbayev unexpectedly resigned from office on 19 March 2019, leading for Senate ChairmanKassym-Jomart Tokayev to briefly serve as the acting president until the scheduled 2020 election.^[19] From there Tokayev was widely viewed to temporarily serve the remainder of Nazarbayev's presidential term as a way to ensuretransition of power and hand over the office toDariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of Nazarbayev.^[20][21] However, On 9 April 2019, Tokayev initiated a snap presidential election for 9 June 2019 citing the reason of avoiding "political uncertainty" and became Nazarbayev's endorsed frontrunner in the race, resulting in him being officially elected to succeed Nazarbayev.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Snap parliamentary elections have also become more frequent in Kazakhstan's politics. Originally the1994 legislative election was held as a result of the dissolution of theSupreme Soviet which previously consisted of former Communist legislators and paved way for amulti-party system. However due to the nature of the newlySupreme Council opposing then-PresidentNursultan Nazarbayev, it was dissolved a year later and were followed by1995 legislative elections which saw pro-Nazarbayev candidates being elected as deputies.^[26] Snap elections took place in2007,2012, and2016 under the pretext of economic issues.^[27]

• 2023 legislative election: After PresidentKassym-Jomart Tokayev's reelection win in November 2022, he called snap elections for the lower chamberMäjilis for 19 March 2023 under a promise to conclude "a reset and renewal of all major political institutions" following theJanuary Events and2022 constitutional referendum by promising for a new parliamentary composition to represent the interests of "broad groups of citizens."^[28] The election saw reduced vote share for the rulingAmanat party, resulting in an appearance of various newly formed political factions includingindependents for the first time since2004.^[29]

New Zealand elections must be held every three years, and the date is determined by theprime minister. There have been three snap elections, in 1951, 1984 and 2002.

• The1951 snap election occurred immediately after the1951 waterfront dispute, in which theNational Party government sided with shipping companies against a militant union, while theLabour opposition equivocated and thus annoyed both sides. The government was returned with an increased majority.^[30]
• The1984 snap election occurred during a term in which the National Party government had a majority of only one seat. Prime MinisterRobert Muldoon lost patience with his less obedientMPs and called an election, announcing it on television while visibly drunk.^[31] Muldoon's government subsequently lost and the Labour Party took power.^[32]
• The2002 election. On 12 June 2002 the Labour PartyPrime MinisterHelen Clark announced that the country would have a general election on 27 July 2002. Clark claimed that an early poll was necessary due to the collapse of her junior coalition partner, theAlliance, but denied it was a snap election. This early election caused considerable comment. Critics claimed that Clark could have continued to govern, and that the early election was called to take advantage of Labour's strong position in the polls.^[33] The National Party was caught unprepared by the election and suffered its worst ever result (20.9% of theparty vote), and the government was returned with an increased majority.^[34]

• 1990 general election: ThePakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led byBenazir Bhutto won a plurality of seats in the1988 election and Bhutto becameprime minister. However, by 1990 there was discontent over rising lawlessness, allegations ofcorruption and the failure of the government to fulfill the promises it had made during the 1988 campaign.^[35]
• 1993 general election: ThePakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) won the1990 election and the party's leader, Nawaz Sharif, became prime minister. In early 1993 he attempted to strip the president of the power to dismiss the prime minister,National Assembly andregional assemblies.^[36] However, in April 1993 President Khan dismissed Sharif for corruption and called elections for 14 July after dissolving the National Assembly.^[37] Sharif immediately appealed to theSupreme Court, which in May ruled by 10 to 1 that Khan had exceeded his powers and therefore restored Sharif as prime minister.^[38]

Khan and Sharif then began to battle for control of Pakistan for the next two months. They both attempted to secure control over the regional assemblies and in particular,Punjab. In Punjab this saw a staged kidnapping and the moving of 130 members of the Punjab Assembly to the capital to ensure they stayed loyal to Sharif. Meanwhile, the leader of the main opposition party Benazir Bhutto threatened to lead a march onIslamabad unless new elections were called.^[36]

Finally on 18 July, under pressure from thearmy to resolve the power struggle, Sharif and Khan resigned as prime minister and president respectively. Elections for the National Assembly were called for 6 October with elections for the regional assemblies set to follow shortly afterwards.^[36][39]

• 1997 general election: The PPP won the largest number of seats in the1993 election and Benazir Bhutto became prime minister at the head of acoalition government.^[40] However, on 5 November 1996, President Leghari, a former ally of Bhutto,^[41] dismissed the government 2 years early for alleged corruption and abuse of power.^[42] The allegations included financial mismanagement, failing to stop police killings, destroying judicial independence and violating theconstitution.^[43] A number of PPP party members were detained including Bhutto's husbandAsif Ali Zardari who was accused of taking commissions for arranging official deals.^[43]

A formerspeaker and member of the PPPMiraj Khalid was appointed interim prime minister. The National Assembly and provincial assemblies were dissolved and elections called for 3 February 1997.^[43] Bhutto denied all the charges against herself and petitioned theSupreme Court to reverse her dismissal. However, the court ruled in January that there was sufficient evidence for the dismissal to be justified legally.^[44]

ThePhilippines has used thepresidential system withfixed terms imposed for more of its history than not. This means thatCongress cannot be dissolved, and that "snap elections" as understood under the parliamentary system cannot be invoked. However, during the presidency ofFerdinand Marcos, the constitution starting from 1973, and first applied in 1978, placed the country under thesemi-presidential system of government, where theBatasang Pambansa (parliament) can be dissolved. During the operation of that constitution, the parliament was not dissolved, but Marcos, who had earlier beenelected in 1981 for a six-year term, asked Parliament to move the 1987 presidential election to 1986, in response to growing social unrest, political and economic crises, political instability, and deteriorating peace and public order.

In the Philippines, the term "snap election" often refers to the1986 presidential election. Marcos declared himself the official winner of the election but was eventuallyousted when allegations offraud marred the election. A new constitutionapproved in 1987 reverted to the presidential system, which made future snap elections unlikely. Fixed presidential elections are held every six years, with legislative elections held every three years, although a unused constitutional provision exists in the contingency if both the presidency and vice presidency become vacant at the same time, with aspecial election for both positions to be held, provided it is not within eighteen months before the date of the next presidential election.

On October 5, 2025, senatorAlan Peter Cayetano has erged for resignation of all government officials and planning a snap election amidflood-control controversies,^[45] despite being unconstitutional.

As theDominion of Ceylon, the House of Representatives, the lower house of theParliament of Ceylon, was elected to a 5 year term, while theSenate of Ceylon, the upper house, could not be dissolved. ThePrime Minister would request theGovernor-General to dissolve the House of Representatives and call a for general election at a required time.

• 1956 general election: Though elections were not due until 1957, prime ministerJohn Kotelawala called an early election. For the first time in Ceylon's independence, the rulingUnited National Party (UNP) led by Kotelawala lost power to theSri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led byS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who became the new prime minister.
• 1960 March general election: Though elections were not due until 1961, prime ministerWijeyananda Dahanayake dissolved parliament and called an early election as the rulingMahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) coalition was collapsing. The opposition United National Party led byDudley Senanayake obtained a plurality of seats, but without a majority could not form a stable government. This resulted in a hung parliament which would eventually lead to another snap election.
• 1960 July general election: As the general election in March resulted in a hung parliament, parliament was dissolved again and another snap election was held on 20 July 1960, where the Sri Lanka Freedom Party led bySirimavo Bandaranaike was able to form a government.

As the Senate of Ceylon was abolished in 1971, theConstitution of 1978 introduced the Executive Presidency and increased the term length of the now unicameral parliament to 6 years. ThePresident had the authority to dissolve parliament and call a snap election at a required time.

• 1994 general election: Though elections were not due until 1995, presidentDingiri Banda Wijetunga dissolved parliament and called an early election. The oppositionPeople's Alliance (PA) led byChandrika Kumaratunga won a plurality of seats and ended 17 years of UNP rule in Sri Lanka.
• 2001 general election: Following the2000 general election, the rulingPeople's Alliance (PA) lost its majority. Failure to form a government resulted in a deadlock for the PA. As several PA MPs began to cross over to the opposition and the government was now faced with the threat of a no-confidence motion, president Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and called for an early election. The oppositionUnited National Front (UNF) led byRanil Wickremesinghe won a plurality of seats, and the result was acohabitation government where the president and prime minister were from opposing parties.
• 2004 general election: As the cohabitation government proved to be unstable, president Kumaratunga dissolved parliament and called a general election 3½ years ahead of schedule.

The19th Amendment reduced the maximum term length of the parliament to 5 years, and made the president unable to dissolve parliament and call a snap election until 4 years and 6 months after the parliament's first meeting. On 9 November 2018, during the2018 constitutional crisis, presidentMaithripala Sirisena attempted to dissolve parliament and call an early general election, but theSupreme Court declared this move unconstitutional, effectively setting the election date back to2020.

Under the20th Amendment, the president can now dissolve parliament and call a snap election 2 years and 6 months after the parliament's first meeting.

• 2024 general election: Though elections were not due until 2025, newly inaugurated presidentAnura Kumara Dissanayake dissolved parliament and called an early general election roughly 11 months ahead of schedule.

Although South Korea operates under a presidential system, which means theparliament cannot be dissolved, theConstitution of South Korea (as of 1987) requires that, should a president be removed from its post, that a snap presidential election be called within 60 days of the removal. The winner of the election would take the post immediately after theNational Election Commission certified the votes, rather than waiting for a two-month transition period as in a non-snap election.^[46]

Under this provision, two snap presidential elections have been held in2017, following theimpeachment of Park Geun-hye and in2025, afterYoon Suk Yeol was similarly impeached.

• 2006 general election: In 2005,Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra and hisThai Rak Thai Party were re-elected for a second consecutive term in office when they won a landslide general election victory by securing 375 out of 500 seats in parliament. This result gave his party the power to amend the constitution since they won a two-thirds majority. However one year later, in 2006, Thaksin was suspected to have been indulging in corrupt business practices in his telecommunication firm 'Shincorp'. And after several protests orchestrated by thePeople's Alliance for Democracy pursuing for the PM's resignation, Thaksin called a snap election scheduled for 2 April 2006 where the opposition party supporters boycotted the polls, resulting in over 50% of voters chosen to not cast their ballots. Due to this political demonstration, Thaksin won the snap election and captured all the 500 seats in the house of parliament. Months later, the supreme court annulled the election results and ordered a fresh election to be held within 100 days from the date of the court's ruling. However, Thaksin was ousted in a2006 Thai coup d'état, forcing him into exile in thePhilippines andDubai. The military stayed in power until 2007 when they stepped down and held a general election in December that year to restore democracy.

• 2014 general election: Thaksin Shinawatra's sisterYingluck Shinawatra became Thailand's first female prime minister on 3 August 2011 when she won a landslide election victory on3 July 2011. Later, the government faced a political crisis in November 2013 when her opponents wanted the prime minister and herPheu Thai Party government to resign after she tried to pass a controversial amnesty bill in parliament which would permit the return of her brother Thaksin as a free man. However, the bill was not passed because the government succumbed to pressure from weeks of street protests and blockades that took place in Bangkok, which intensified before the King's birthday. On 9 December 2013, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra decided to dissolve parliament and called a snap general election, which was held on 2 February 2014. This announcement came a day after the resignation of all MPs from the main oppositionDemocrat Party led byopposition leaderAbhisit Vejjajiva, which boycotted the election afterwards.

Snap parliamentary elections were held inArmenia on 9 December 2018, as none of the parties in theNational Assembly were able to put forward and then elect a candidate for prime minister in the two-week period following the resignation of incumbent Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan. They were the first elections following the2018 revolution and the country's first-ever snap elections.^[47]

Snap elections are possible for theFederal Parliament of Belgium, but not for the regional parliaments. The last snap electionwas held in 2010.

Technically, usually the federal parliament is dissolved by means of aDeclaration of Revision of the Constitution (automatically triggering an election), just before the normal expiration of the legislative period.

Snap elections were held in2014 when neither theBulgarian Socialist Party norGERB were able to form a coalition with a tied parliament.

After the2020–2021 Bulgarian protests there has been a political stalemate which has led to snap elections inJuly 2021,November 2021,2022 (after thePetkov Government fell) and2023,June 2024 (after the fall of theDenkov Government), andOctober 2024.

Snap general elections were held in theCzech Republic on 25 and 26 October 2013, seven months before theconstitutional expiry of the electedparliament's four year legislative term.

The governmentelected in May 2010 led by Prime MinisterPetr Nečas was forced to resign on 17 June 2013, after a corruption and bribery scandal. Acaretaker government led by Prime MinisterJiří Rusnok was then appointed by thePresident, but narrowly lost a vote of confidence on 7 August, leading to its resignation six days later.^[48] The Chamber of Deputies then passed a motion dissolving itself on 20 August, with a call for new elections within 60 days after presidential assent.^[49][50] The President gave his assent on 28 August, scheduling the elections for 25 and 26 October 2013.^[51]

In Denmark,Parliamentary elections take place every fourth year (Danish Constitution art. 32, sec. 1);^[52] however, theprime minister can choose to call an early election at any time, provided that any elected parliament has already been called into session at least once (Danish Constitution art. 32, sec. 2).^[52] If a government loses its majority in theFolketing, this is not automatically avote of confidence, but such a vote may be called, and – if lost – the government calls a new election. Denmark has a history ofcoalitionminority governments, and due to this system, a party normally providing parliamentary support for the sitting government while not being part of it, can choose to deprive the government of a parliamentary majority regarding a specific vote, but at the same time avoid calling new elections since any vote of no confidence takes place as a separate procedure.

Notably, Denmark faced a number of very short parliaments in the 1970s and the 1980s. Prime MinisterPoul Schlüter lead a series of coalition minority governments calling elections in both1984,1987,1988 and1990. Likewise, his predecessors called elections in1971,1973,1975,1977,1979 and1981. For more than 40 years, no Danish parliament has sat its full four-year term, althoughLars Løkke II andLars Løkke Rasmussen III Cabinet came very close in2019, in all cases, the prime minister has called elections at an earlier date.

• 2007 general election:Prime ministerAnders Fogh Rasmussen announced an election date for 24 October 2007. The election was held ahead of time in the sense that by law, the election needed to be held before 8 February 2009, four years after the previous election. Anders Fogh Rasmussen explained that the elections were called early in order to allow the parliament to work on important upcoming topics without being distracted by a future election. Referring specifically towelfare reform, he said rival parties would then try to outdo each other with expensive reforms which would damage theDanish economy.
• 2022 general election:Prime ministerMette Frederiksen announced an election date for 1 November 2022. The elections were called on 5 October following an ultimatum to the government by theSocial Liberals (which had been providing external support) due to the outcome of a report on the2020 Danish mink cull by theMink Commission, which was critical of the government.

ThePresident of Finland can call for an early election. As per the version ofthe 2000 constitution currently in use, the president can do this only upon proposal by theprime minister and after consultations with the parliamentary groups, while the Parliament is in session. In prior versions of the constitution, the President had the power to do this unilaterally.

In France, under theFifth Republic, while theNational Assembly is elected for a five-year term, thePresident has the authority to dissolve the National Assembly and call an early election, provided the Assembly has not been dissolved in the preceding twelve months. When the presidential term of office was shortened from seven to five years in the2000 French constitutional referendum, presidential terms became equal in length to legislative terms. Until a snap2024 legislative election was called, presidential and parliamentary terms were synchronized, with the National Assembly elected a few weeks after the president, reducing the risk of acohabitation. TheSenate, which is the upper house, can never be dissolved prematurely.

• 1968 legislative election: The then-presidentCharles de Gaulle called a snap election afterMay protests.
• 1988 legislative election: After the re-election ofFrançois Mitterrand inthat year's presidential election, a snap parliamentary election was called to try and create a parliamentary majority for Mitterrand in order to end the cohabitation government. While his allies obtained a plurality of seats, a coalition government needed to be formed. A similar dissolution occurred in1981 after Mitterrand's first election.
• 1997 legislative election: The then-presidentJacques Chirac called an election one year before it was scheduled to take place in an effort to catch the left-wing parties off guard. Partly due to the unpopularity of the prime minister,Alain Juppé, a coalition of left-wing parties were able to form a government, resulting in the longest cohabitation period in modern French history. This also marks the only time a French president has lost an election he called on his own initiative since the start of the Fifth Republic (1958).
• 2024 legislative election: PresidentEmmanuel Macron called a snap election in response to theEuropean Parliament elections, when Macron's partyRenaissance took heavy losses and the far-right populistNational Rally got 31.5% of the vote.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, elections to theBundestag must take place within 46–48 months (every four years) after the first sitting of the previous chamber. TheFederal President may only dissolve the chamber prematurely if the government loses a confidence motion (at the request of the Chancellor), or if no majority government can be formed.

• 1972 federal election: after the1969, the second placedSocial Democratic Party and the smallFree Democratic Party had formed asocial-liberal coalition with a relatively narrow 20-seat majority. Due to ChancellorWilly Brandt'sOstpolitik foreign policy, especially the recognition of theOder-Neisse line, the government then lost their majority after several MPs defected to theCDU/CSU opposition. On 27 April 1972 the opposition tried to have CDU leader Rainer Barzel elected new chancellor in a motion of no confidence, but Barzel surprisingly missed the majority in the Bundestag by two votes. A snap election was held after the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Benefitting from Brandt's personal popularity and modern interior policies, his SPD became the strongest party for the first time, with 45.8%.
• 1983 federal election: The government of ChancellorHelmut Schmidt had been ousted in October 1982 after the FDP had switched from being allied with the SPD to being allied with the CDU-CSU union. Although the majority of MPs now supported the government of the new ChancellorHelmut Kohl, he wanted an early election in order to gain an explicit mandate to govern. To do this, he deliberately lost a confidence motion by asking for his coalition MPs to abstain. There was some controversy over this fake move and the decision was challenged in theConstitutional Court, but given approval by President Carstens. Kohl's government won the election with a net loss of one seat despite FDP losses. In addition, a new party, the Greens, first entered the parliament, weakening the SPD.
• 2005 federal election: in 1998Gerhard Schröder (SPD) had won over Kohl (CDU), but already in 2002, the major parties were deadlocked at 38.5% each, and with the Greens being the larger of the minor parties, ChancellorGerhard Schröder could carry on with his SPD-Green coalition for some time. After a series of state election losses, culminating withNorth Rhine-Westphalia in 2005, caused the opposition to gain a wide majority in theBundesrat, the second chamber, Schröder deliberately lost a confidence motion to trigger new elections. Hisred-green coalition government also feared that left-wing SPD MPs were threatening to blockAgenda 2010 reform legislation. As with the 1983 dissolution, it was challenged and upheld in theFederal Constitutional Court. The election produced ahung parliament due to the gains made by a fifth force,The Left party of former East Germany, resulting in agrand coalition being formed between the CDU-CSU and SPD. Schröder lost his chancellorship toAngela Merkel due to his party narrowly coming second in the elections.
• 2025 German federal election: Following agovernment crisis, ChancellorOlaf Scholz dismissedFDP leaderChristian Lindner from hisgovernment on 6 November 2024, triggering the collapse of thetraffic light coalition and leaving the government without a majority. On the same day, Scholz announced he would submit a motion of confidence to hold a snap election.^[53][54][55] In the election the SPD suffered a historic defeat and theCDU/CSU won the most seats.^[56]

In most German states, the parliament is able to dissolve itself. This explains why there have been many more snap elections, actual, intended, or cancelled, in German states compared to the federal level, for example:

• Hamburg: TheBürgerschaft elections ofDecember 1982,1987,1993,2004, and2011.
• Berlin: TheAbgeordnetenhaus elections of1950,1981,1990,2001 and2023.
• Hesse: TheLandtag election of2009.
• Schleswig-Holstein: TheLandtag elections of1988, with2009 and2012 being two snap elections in a row, after the grand coalition of 2005 had collapsed in mid 2009. Due to ambiguity and complications with the electoral law, the 2009 election result was the subject of a legal challenge by the Greens, The Left, and the Danish minority partySSW. In August 2010, the state Constitutional Court ruled that the electoral law was unconstitutional. The court mandated that a new electoral law be legislated within six months and that new elections be held by September 2012, two years ahead of schedule.
• Thuringia: no snap elections after gains for the far rightAlternative for Germany (AfD) in the2019 Thuringian state election caused a hung parliament and the2020 Thuringian government crisis. Snap elections were scheduled for April 25, 2021, then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to align with the2021 German federal election on September 26, but the idea was abandoned in July 2021 to carry on with the minority government led by Minister-PresidentBodo Ramelow of The Left. The regular2024 Thuringian state election resulted in another hung parliament, as the AfD became largest party for the first time in Germany and the new BSW established itself in third place after splitting off from The Left. Two of the three federaltraffic light coalition parties, FDP and Greens, were eliminated from presence in the Thuringian parliament altogether, while the SPD, the party of reigning German Chancellor Scholz, came close to elimination with only 6.1%.

In 2012,Greece held snap elections in two consecutive months. The government ofGeorge Papandreou, elected in the2009 legislative election, had resigned in November 2011. Instead of triggering an immediate snap election, the government was replaced by anational unity government which had a remit to ratify and implement decisions taken with otherEurozone countries and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) a month earlier.^[57] This government served for six months.

TheMay 2012 legislative election produced a deadlocked parliament andattempts to form a government were unsuccessful. The constitution directs thepresident to dissolve a newly elected parliament that is unable to form a government. Ten days after the election, thepresident announced that a second election would be held.^[58] TheJune 2012 legislative election resulted in the formation of a coalition government.

In 2015, after thebailout referendum, in which the proposed bailout program was rejected with a 61.31% majority, theSyriza government accepted the program, relying on votes from the opposition partiesNew Democracy,PASOK andThe River.^[59] Since many Syriza MPs refused to support the government,new elections were called for 20 September of the same year, 8 months after theprevious ones.^[60]

• May 2023 Greek legislative election
• June 2023 Greek legislative election

In Italy, national snap elections have been quite frequent in modern history, both under theMonarchy and in the current republican phase. After the foundation of theItalian Republic in 1946, the first snap election occurred in 1972 and the latest one in 2022. After significant changes in the election system (in 1992–1993), the frequency of snap elections has been slightly reduced since new regulations granted completion of two of four parliamentary terms. Nonetheless, snap elections still play a role in the political debate as tools considered by political parties and the Executive branch to promote their agenda or to seize political momentum. Norecall election is codified in electoral regulations.The Italian President is not required to call for a snap election, even if the prime minister asks for it, provided that the Parliament is able to form a new working majority (PresidentOscar Luigi Scalfaro denied snap election to Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi after the loss of confidence in 1994).

Early general elections were held inLuxembourg on 20 October 2013.^[61] The elections were called after Prime MinisterJean-Claude Juncker, at the time the longest serving head of government in theEuropean Union, announced his resignation over a spy scandal involving theService de Renseignement de l'Etat (SREL).^[62][63] The review found Juncker deficient in his control over the service.^[63]

After a spy scandal involving the SREL illegallywiretapping politicians, theGrand Duke and his family, and allegations of paying for favours in exchange for access to government ministers and officials leaked through the press, Prime Minister Juncker submitted hisresignation to the Grand Duke on 11 July 2013, upon knowledge of the withdrawal of theLuxembourg Socialist Workers' Party from the government and thereby losing itsconfidence and supply in theChamber of Deputies. Juncker urged the Grand Duke for the immediatedissolution of parliament and the calling of a snap election.^[62]

In Romania, under the1993 constitution, according the article 89, thePresident of Romania can dissolve theParliament of Romania if a government has not been formed in 60 days and two proposals forPrime Minister have been refused.^[64]

In Russia, under the1993 constitution, according the article 109, theState Duma (lower house of theFederal Assembly) is elected for a five-year term, but thepresident has the authority to dissolve the State Duma and call a snap election. However, this power of the president is limited, and he can use it only in two cases: if the State Duma three times in a row refused to approve theprime minister, or twice in three months pass a motion of no confidence against theGovernment of Russia.^[65]

• 2016 legislative electionde facto were snap, as they were held three months ahead of schedule. However, the early holding of election was not due to the dissolution of the State Duma, but to the postponement of the day of voting on the day on which the regional elections were held. The early elections were approved by theConstitutional Court.^[66][67]

A snap general election took place inSlovakia on 10 March 2012 to elect 150 members of theNárodná rada. The election followed the fall of Prime MinisterIveta Radičová'sSlovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party-led coalition in October 2011 over ano confidence vote her government had lost because of its support for theEuropean Financial Stability Fund. Amidst amajor corruption scandal involving local center-right politicians, former Prime MinisterRobert Fico'sDirection – Social Democracy won an absolute majority of seats.

A parliamentary election for the 90deputies to theNational Assembly ofSlovenia was held on 4 December 2011.^[68] This was the first early election in Slovenia's history. 65.60% of voters cast their vote.^[69] The election was surprisingly won by the center-leftPositive Slovenia party, led byZoran Janković. However, he failed to be elected as the newprime minister in the National Assembly,^[70] and the new government was formed by a right-leaning coalition of five parties, led byJanez Janša, the president of the second-placedSlovenian Democratic Party.^[70][71][72]the National Assembly consists of 90 members, elected for a four-year term, 88 members elected by theparty-list proportional representation system withD'Hondt method and 2 members elected by ethnic minorities (Italians andHungarians) using theBorda count.^[73]

The election was previously scheduled to take place in 2012, four years after the2008 election. However, on 20 September 2011, the government led byBorut Pahor fell after a vote of no confidence.^[74]

As stated in theConstitution, the National Assembly has to elect a newprime minister within 30 days and a candidate has to be proposed by either members of the Assembly or thePresident of the country within seven days after the fall of a government.^[75] If this does not happen, the president dissolves the Assembly and calls for a snap election. The leaders of most parliamentary political parties expressed opinion that they preferred an early election instead of forming a new government.^[76]

As no candidates were proposed by the deadline, the PresidentDanilo Türk announced that he would dissolve the Assembly on 21 October and that the election would take place on 4 December.^[68] The question arose as to whether the President could dissolve the Assembly after the seven days, in the event that no candidate was proposed. However, since this situation is not covered in the constitution, the decision of the President to wait the full 30 days was welcomed by the political parties.^[77] The dissolution of the Assembly, a first in independent Slovenia, took place on October 21, a minute after midnight.^[78]

• 2011 general election: TheCortes Generales were dissolved and the general election called by KingJuan Carlos I on 26 September,^[79] at the request ofPrime MinisterJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who had already announced his intention to call for a snap election on 28 July.^[80]
• 2016 general election: After no party secured a majority in the2015 general election and withensuing negotiations leading to political deadlock, a fresh election was called for 26 June^[81][82]—the first time in Spanish recent history that an election was triggered as a result of failure in the government formation process.^[83]
• 2023 general election. A general election was originally due to take place in December 2023. However, after losing majorities in many regional parliaments and local councils in the28 May 2023 local elections,Prime ministerPedro Sánchez announced a snap election to be held on 23 July.^[84]

TheInstrument of Government (Regeringsformen) in theConstitution of Sweden allows an "extra election" ("extra val" in Swedish). The wording is used to make clear it does not change the period to the next ordinary election, and the Members of Parliament elected merely serve out what remains of the four-year parliamentary term. This has however not occurred since1958.

Elections are called by the government. Elections are also to be held if the parliament fails four times to elect aprime minister.Elections may not otherwise be called during the first three months of theRiksdag's first session after a general election. Elections may not be called by a prime minister who has resigned or been discharged.

• 2014 Swedish government crisis: On 3 December 2014, Prime MinisterStefan Löfven announced that the government was calling for a snap election on 22 March 2015, after the parliament elected on 14 September 2014 voted against the government's proposal for the 2015 state budget.^[85] However, the final order of the snap election was never carried out as six out of the eight parliament parties reached an agreement on 27 December 2014 calledDecemberöverenskommelsen (The December Agreement).^[86] The agreement was dissolved in 2015.

Following a total revision of theSwiss Federal Constitution, both chambers of theFederal Assembly must be newly elected. Otherwise, early elections are not intended. This being the case because the Swiss political system does not rely on stable coalitions as its government, theFederal Council, acts independently from the Assembly and bills voted on by parliament are dealt on a case-by-case basis.

InUkraine a snap poll must have avoter turnout higher than 50%.^[87] A snap election was most recently held with the2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election held after PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved theVerkhovna Rada shortly after his inauguration to win a parliamentary majority for hisServant of the People party.^[88]

Theprime minister of the United Kingdom has thede facto power to call an election at will by requesting a dissolution from the monarch; the limited circumstances where this would not be granted are set out in theLascelles Principles. If this does not happen, parliament dissolves automatically after five years, but this never happens; so in effect, most elections sincethe length of parliament was first limited in 1694, except the one in 2015 (the date for which was fixed by law), have technically been snap elections. The term is thus normally reserved in the British context for elections called significantly earlier than required (after five years since 1911, or after seven years prior to that).

From 2011 to 2022, the conditions for when a snap election could be called were significantly restricted by theFixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) to occasions when the government loses a confidence motion or when a two-thirdssupermajority ofMPs vote in favour. During autumn 2019 there were three attempts to trigger an election through the FTPA's provision for a two-thirds majority: all failed. Then the FTPA was bypassed entirely by Parliament enacting theEarly Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 stipulating a set date for the next election: the2019 general election. This required only a simple majority, because of thedoctrine of parliamentary supremacy: Parliament cannot pass a law that cannot be changed or reversed by a future Parliament.^[89] The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed on March 24, 2022 by theDissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, which restored the Monarch's power to dissolve parliament on request by the Prime Minister. This is thought to have revived the Lascelles Principles as well.^[90]

The following elections were called by a voluntary decision of the government less than four years after the previous election:

• 1923 general election: Although theConservative Party had won a working majority in the House of Commons afterBonar Law's victory in the1922 general election,Stanley Baldwin called an election only a year later. Baldwin sought a mandate to raise tariffs, which Law had promised against in the previous election, as well as desiring to gain a personal mandate to govern and strengthen his position within the party. This backfired, as the election resulted in ahung parliament. Followinglosing a confidence motion in January 1924, Baldwin resigned and was replaced byRamsay MacDonald, who formed the country's first ever Labour minority government with tacit support from the Liberal Party.
• 1931 general election: Following his government split over how to deal with theGreat Depression,Ramsay MacDonald offered his resignation to the King in August 1931. He was instead persuaded to form aNational Government with the Conservatives and Liberals, which resulted in his expulsion from theLabour Party. The Cabinet then decided to call the election to obtain a Doctor's Mandate to fix the economy. The result was that the National Government won the biggest landslide in British history. Labour, which was blamed for running away from responsibility as a Government in the nation's hour of need, was reduced to just 52 seats and its leader,Arthur Henderson, lost his seat.
• 1951 general election: Despite the fact the Conservatives were leading in the polls,Clement Attlee called the election to increase his government's majority, which had been reduced to just five seats in theprevious general election. The Labour Party was defeated andWinston Churchill returned to power with a majority of 17.
• 1955 general election: AfterWinston Churchill retired in April 1955,Anthony Eden took over and immediately called the election in order to gain a mandate for his government.
• 1966 general election:Harold Wilson called the election seventeen months after Labour narrowly won the1964 general election: The government had won a barely-workable majority of four seats, which had been reduced to two following theLeyton by-election in January 1965. Labour won a decisive victory, with a majority of 98 seats.
• February 1974 general election: Prime MinisterEdward Heath called the election in order to get a mandate to face down aminers' strike. The election unexpectedly produced ahung parliament in which Labour narrowly won more seats, despite winning fewer votes than the Conservatives. Unable to form a coalition with the Liberals, Heath resigned and was replaced by Wilson.
• October 1974 general election: Six months following the February election, Wilson called another general election in an attempt to win a majority for his Labour minority government and resolve the deadlock. Wilson was successful, though Labour only held a narrow 3-seat majority.

Gordon Brown came very close to calling a snap election in the autumn of 2007; after he failed to do this, his popularity and authority greatly declined and he lost power in2010.

The following elections were forced by amotion of no confidence against the will of the government:

• 1924 general election:Ramsay MacDonald was forced to call the election after a successfulvote of no confidence as a result of theCampbell Case. It was the third general election in three years. The result was a landslide victory for Baldwin and the Conservatives.
• 1979 general election: This election was held six months before the latest possible date. It was called when the minority Labour government ofJames Callaghanlost a confidence motion, which had been proposed by theSNP in the aftermath of theScottish devolution referendum and was taken forward by the Conservatives, by one vote. The Conservatives, led byMargaret Thatcher, won a majority of seats at the election.

The following two elections were called by the will of Parliament while theFixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 was in force:

• 2017 general election: In April 2017, Prime MinisterTheresa May tabled a motion in the House of Commons for an early general election in the form detailed in section 2(2) of the 2011 Act, which was approved in Parliament by a near-unanimous vote. This was shortly after the official commencement of the process ofwithdrawing from the European Union (Brexit), with May saying that she needed a clear mandate to lead the country through the ensuing negotiations, and hoping to increase her Conservative Party's majority. The election was a failure for May, with the Conservative Party losing seats, resulting in a hung parliament and a minority Conservative government with a confidence and supply agreement with theDemocratic Unionist Party.
• 2019 general election: In September and October 2019, Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, seeking a mandate and a majority to break the parliamentary deadlock on his Brexit deal, failed on several occasions to pass a section 2(2) motion for an early general election due to its requirement for a two-thirds majority. After failing to force the deal through with minimal scrutiny viaa long prorogation that was ruled unlawful, he introduceda bill to bypass the 2011 Act, requiring only a simple majority in both houses. The bill passed and the Conservatives gained an 80 seat majority in the subsequent election, allowing the United Kingdom to leave the European Union the following January.

The devolved UK administrations (theNorthern Ireland Assembly,Scottish Parliament, and theSenedd; established in 1998, 1999, and 1998 respectively) are also elected for fixed terms of government (four years prior to 2011, five years thereafter), but snap elections can still be called in the event of amotion of no confidence, or other special circumstances.

• 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election: Held ten months after theprevious Assembly election. Following the resignation ofSinn Féin deputy First MinisterMartin McGuinness over various issues and scandals with his party'sDUP coalition partners, and the subsequent refusal of Sinn Féin to nominate a new deputy First Minister, theNorthern Ireland Executive collapsed and theSecretary of State for Northern IrelandJames Brokenshire was legally obliged to call a snap election to attempt to restore a functional devolved government. This election took place on 2 March 2017. The DUP and Sinn Féin remained the two largest parties following the election, but did not reach an agreement to share power until January 2020.^[91]

Look upsnap election in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Elections

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