Motion of no confidence

A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion and corresponding vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit to continue to occupy their office. The no-confidence vote is a defining constitutional element of a parliamentary system, in which the executive's mandate rests upon the continued support (or at least non-opposition) of the majority in the legislature. Systems differ in whether such a motion may be directed against the prime minister, against individual cabinet ministers, against the cabinet as a whole, or some combination of the above.

A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion. In a parliamentary system, a vote of no confidence leads to the resignation of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, or, depending on the constitutional procedure at hand, a snap election. On the other hand, censure is a non-constitutionally-binding expression of disapproval; a motion of censure may be against an individual minister or a group of ministers. However, depending on a country's constitution, a no-confidence motion may be more directed against the entire cabinet. Again, depending on the applicable rules, censure motions may need to state the reasons for the motion, but specific reasons may not be required for no-confidence motions. However, in some countries, especially those with uncodified constitutions, what constitutes a no-confidence vote sufficient to force the resignation of high officeholders may not be clear. Even if the government is not constitutionally bound to resign after losing a given vote, such a result may be an ominous sign for the government and prompt its resignation or the calling of snap elections.

In addition to explicit motions of confidence and no-confidence, some bills (almost always the government budget, and sometimes other key pieces of legislation) may be declared to be a confidence vote – that is, the vote on the bill is treated as a question of confidence in the government; a defeat of the bill expresses no confidence in the government.