By the misleadingly titled Septennial Act 1715, Parliament is dissolved automatically five years[1] from
the day on which by the writ of summons [Parliament shall be] appointed to meet, unless [Parliament] shall be sooner dissolved by his Majesty, his heirs or successors
which in 2005 was May 11 (and this time is May 18).
Had Brown not invited Her Majesty to dissolve Parliament on the 12th of April, it would have been dissolved automatically by effluxion of time yesterday.
[1]: As the short title suggests, the limit was seven years until it was reduced to five by an amendment made by the Parliament Act 1911. |