State opening of Parliament

Parliament will soon be in prorogation.  This means the marking of the end of a parliamentary session, before the State Opening of Parliament when the new session starts.
This year the State Opening of Parliament will take place on the 9th May 2012.  The 2010-12 session has been a long one, as it started after the State Opening which took place on Tuesday 25 May 2010 and is only about to finish now.  Normally a new session starts in November and then ends the following November.  However, after the last general election the Fixed Term Parliament Act was passed on the 15 September 2011.  The Act states that the parliamentary general elections will ordinarily take place on the first Thursday in May every five years.  Out of this Act one of the benefits would be that there would be five twelve months parliamentary sessions beginning and ending in spring.