In this blog Brian Cleary answers the questions that many people are asking; what is the MHRA quiet period and why does it exist?
While democracy may appear to operate in a broadly similar fashion in most countries, there is no doubt that each country has its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to election time. The United States has its electoral college, France has its two stage Presidential election system, Ireland enforces a broadcast moratorium from 2pm on the day before a vote (introduced in the early 20th century when broadcasting was in its infancy in order to enable voters to ponder the gravity of what they were about to do and to allow them the space to consider carefully the choice that they were about to make!) and the UK has Purdah.