08-28-2019, 05:50 PM
It's a holdover from the days when monarchs directed Parliament. If a king or queen had a Parliament that was responsive to their wishes, they would "prorogue" it rather than call new elections. In this way some parliaments continued for years, albeit with long recesses. It hasn't been used in this way for nearly two centuries until Boris came up with this clever way to stymie debate.