On 16 November 2020, the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill was introduced.[31] This draft legislation stated that while the next election was intended to be held on 6 May 2021, the Presiding Officer would gain the power to postpone the election by up to six months if the spread of COVID-19 made that date impractical.[31] The bill also proposed to change the date of dissolution to the day before the election, meaning that the Parliament could be recalled during the election period.[31] The bill was enacted and received Royal Assent on 29 January 2021.[32] Parliament was in fact recalled on 12 April, to allow MSPs to mark the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[33]