An arrangement in which a minor party or independent legislators outside government agree to support a minority government on votes of confidence and on the budget bills that keep it funded, called supply, in exchange for influence over specific policies, without joining the government itself or accepting collective responsibility for its full programme. The minor party remains formally in opposition and is free to vote against the government on any matter the agreement does not cover. It is most associated with governments formed under proportional or mixed electoral systems that regularly produce no single-party majority, New Zealand's arrangements since its 1996 shift to mixed-member proportional representation and the United Kingdom's 2017 to 2019 agreement between the Conservative government and the Democratic Unionist Party among the most documented instances.
Facts
Disputed
Origin YearSources do not agree on a clean founding date for the term or the practice: minority governments have relied on informal outside support for as long as parliamentary systems have produced them, and the formalized confidence-and-supply agreement, with the term itself in common use, is most associated with New Zealand's regular minority governments after its 1996 shift to mixed-member proportional representation. Recorded here as a representative rather than a first date. Founding ContextA minor party agrees to support the government on votes of confidence or no confidence and on supply (budget) bills while remaining formally in opposition; a notable example is the 1977-1978 Lib-Lab pact between the UK Liberal Party and Labour government. 1 Connections
Associated With
A confidence-and-supply agreement's first commitment is a promise to support the government, or abstain, on any motion of no confidence brought against it.
The Conservative government's 2017 to 2019 agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party, after the Conservatives lost their majority in that year's general election, is the most widely reported recent instance of the arrangement.
Source Explainer: What Is a Confidence-and-Supply Government? (The Conversation)
Practiced By
Source Confidence and supply (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Explainer: What Is a Confidence-and-Supply Government? (The Conversation)
The ConversationQuote
When a minor party signs a confidence-and-supply deal, they are agreeing to vote with the government or abstain on any motion of confidence
opening / example section
When a minor party signs a confidence-and-supply deal, they are agreeing to vote with the government or abstain on any motion of confidence or no confidence brought to the house. The supply in the title refers to support on certain votes.
View the Source Confidence and supply (Wikipedia)
Practiced By: Germany, Article text
In New Zealand, confidence and supply arrangements are common due to the MMP system used in the country.
In Group: Parliamentary Confidence Procedures, Lead paragraph
In parliamentary democracies, especially those based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one or more parties and/ or independent MPs on confidence votes and the state budget ("supply").
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