Septennial Act 1716 It did not require parliament to last for a full term, but merely set a maximum length on its life. Most parliaments in the remainder of the eighteenth century did indeed last for six or seven years, with only two lasting for a shorter time. In the nineteenth century, the average length of a term of the Parliament of the United Kingdom was four years. One of the demands of the mid-nineteenth century Chartists—the only one that had not been achieved by the twentieth century—was for annually-elected parliaments. The Septennial Act was amended on 18 August 1911 by of the
Septennial Act 1716 Parliament Act 1911 to reduce the maximum term of parliament to five years. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 repealed the Septennial Act in its entirety. The text of the act is very short. As originally in force, it stated: The act overturned the provisions of the Triennial Act 1694. The ostensible aim of the Septennial Act was, by reducing the frequency of elections, to reduce the cost during a given period of holding them. However, it may have had the effect of keeping the Whig party, which had won the 1715 general election, in power for a longer time. The