Editing Prime minister (section)

===Exit from office===
{{Globalize|section|British Commonwealth countries|date=November 2023}}
In older, convention-based [[parliamentary system]]s, prime ministers are not appointed for a specific term in office and in effect may remain in power through a number of [[election]]s and parliaments. For example, [[Margaret Thatcher]] was only ever appointed prime minister on ''one'' occasion, in 1979. She remained ''continuously'' in power until 1990, though she used the assembly of each [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] after a [[general election]] to [[Cabinet reshuffle|reshuffle her cabinet]].

Newer parliamentary systems that operate based on a codified constitution, however, do have a term of office of the prime minister linked to the period in office of the parliament. Hence, for example, Latvian prime minister [[Krišjānis Kariņš]], who was [[First Kariņš cabinet|first appointed in 2018]], had to be reappointed as head of [[Second Kariņš cabinet|a new government]] following the [[2022 Latvian parliamentary election]].

The position of prime minister is usually chosen from the political party that commands – whether by itself or as the largest member of a coalition – the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament, though this is not a requirement either; for example, following the [[2018 Latvian parliamentary election]], after two failed attempts by larger parties to form a coalition headed by them, the leader of the smallest party in parliament – [[Krišjānis Kariņš]] – was eventually appointed as a compromise candidate. [[Italy]] has seen several emergency [[Technocratic government (Italy)|technocratic governments]], such as [[Ciampi government|Carlo Azeglio Ciampi]]'s and [[Draghi government|Mario Draghi]]'s governments, where the prime minister was a non-partisan expert backed by the [[confidence and supply]] of a [[grand coalition|broad cross-section of the parliament]].

In parliamentary systems, [[government]]s are generally required to have the confidence of the [[Lower house|lower house of parliament]] (though a small minority of parliaments, by giving a right to block [[Loss of supply|supply]] to [[upper house]]s, in effect make the [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]] responsible to both houses, though in reality upper houses, even when they have the power, rarely exercise it). Where they lose a ''[[vote of confidence]]'', have a ''[[motion of no confidence]]'' passed against them, or where they lose supply, most [[constitution]]al systems require either:

{{ordered list|type=lower-alpha
 |a letter of resignation or
 |a request for parliamentary dissolution.
}}

The latter in effect allows the government to appeal the [[Opposition (parliamentary)|opposition]] of parliament to the [[Constituency|electorate]]. However, in many [[jurisdiction]]s a head of state ''may'' refuse a parliamentary dissolution, requiring the resignation of the prime minister and his or her government. In most modern parliamentary systems, the prime minister is the person who decides when to request a parliamentary dissolution.

Older constitutions often vest this power in the [[Cabinet (government)|cabinet]]. In the United Kingdom, for example, the tradition whereby it is the prime minister who requests a dissolution of parliament dates back to 1918. Prior to then, it was the ''entire'' government that made the request. Similarly, though the modern 1937 Irish constitution grants to the Taoiseach the right to make the request, the earlier 1922 [[Irish Free State Constitution]] vested the power in the ''[[Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)|Executive Council]]'' (the then name for the Irish cabinet).

Some systems, such as [[Germany]] and [[Spain]], require motions of no confidence to be [[constructive vote of no confidence|constructive]]: i.e., they must include the name of an alternative prime minister; if the motion of no confidence is successful, the alternative prime minister automatically takes office in place of the incumbent government, which cannot appeal this replacement to the electorate.

In [[Australia]], the prime minister is expected to step down if they lose the majority support of their party under a [[spill motion]] as have many such as [[Tony Abbott]], [[Julia Gillard]], [[Kevin Rudd]] and [[Malcolm Turnbull]].