British elections have a distinctive vocabulary, based on the traditions of parliamentary democracy and modern political slogans and spin.
As voters head to the polls on Thursday to choose a new government, let’s decode some key words and phrases.
Battle Bus
Luxury buses were rented by the major political parties to transport politicians and journalists to campaigns around the country during the five-week election period.
Labour’s red buses have the word “Transformation” emblazoned on them, while the Conservatives’ blue buses promise “a clear plan, bold action and a secure future”, while the centrist Liberal Democrats’ yellow buses took party leader Ed Davey on a high-profile trip that included paddleboarding, rollercoasters, Zumba and bungee jumping.
Blue Wall
The string of constituencies in southern England are among the country’s wealthiest, and voters there have traditionally backed the blue-leaning Conservative Party.
With the Conservatives trailing in the polls, the centrist Liberal Democrats are targeting wealthier, socially liberal voters in the hopes of winning some of their seats. See also: Red Wall (below).
Brexit
Britain’s departure from the European Union (EU), which began with a referendum in 2016 and was completed in 2020, was the most shocking and divisive event for the country in decades.
But it has barely featured in the election campaign. The Conservatives are reluctant to admit that many of the promised economic benefits have not materialized. Labour is unwilling to reopen old wounds or alienate Brexiteers. So Brexit has become a kind of political Voldemort, a kind of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Coalition government
Coalition governments are rare in Britain; they are governments in which two or more parties share ministerial posts, compromise on policies, and agree to govern together. The 2010-2015 coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats was Britain’s first since World War II.
First come, first served
It is used to describe an electoral system in which the candidate who receives the most votes in each district wins, even if he or she does not receive a majority of the votes.
The system tends to favour the two largest parties, the Conservatives and Labour, who have historically held majorities of seats in Parliament but received well below half the vote.
House of Representatives
There are 650 seats in the House of Commons, each representing one region of the UK. The leader of the party with enough seats to gain a majority, either alone or in a coalition, becomes Prime Minister and heads the government.
House of Peers
The unelected House of Lords scrutinizes bills passed by the House of Commons. It is made up of peers appointed for life by political parties, plus a small number of judges, bishops, and hereditary peers. Its bloated size and undemocratic nature have often been criticized, but reform has proven difficult.
Hung Parliament
The outcome would be no party with a majority in the House of Commons, in which case the parties would try to agree on a working majority to allow the government to pass legislation – an unlikely outcome if opinion polls showing Labour with a double-digit lead on polling day prove to be the case.
The King’s Speech
The annual speech read by the King at the opening of Parliament. It is written by the Government and outlines its legislative programme.
This year’s speech will be delivered by King Charles III on 17 July and will see either Labour leader Keir Starmer or Conservative leader Rishi Sunak announce their plans.
Majority/Minority Government
A majority government is formed by the party that holds a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. A minority government occurs when a party that does not hold a majority of the seats governs alone, relying on the support of votes from smaller parties. Minority governments tend to be short-lived; the most recent one lasted from 2017 to 2019.
Closely contested seats
Constituencies that are won by small margins are more likely to result in a change of government in an election, whereas the opposite is true for safe constituencies.
Red Wall
The constituency, in central and northern England, was once home to mining, steel and other heavy industries and has traditionally voted red for the Labour Party.
After years of high unemployment and social decline, many of these voters switched to Boris Johnson’s Conservative party, and Labour is hoping to win back many of these seats on Thursday.
Overwhelming majority
An American term with no clear meaning in Britain, it was introduced by the Conservative Party in British elections to consolidate the party’s votes, warning that Labour could gain unlimited power if it won too many seats in Parliament.
Swing Meter
A staple of the BBC’s election-night coverage for decades, the pendulum-like chart showing the percentage of voters switching from one party to another has been used to predict seat outcomes — once a physical prop, it’s now delivered as a digital graphic.
Strategic Voting
It refers to the act of voters supporting a party they would not normally support in order to defeat another candidate. There is speculation that this election may see a rise in strategic voting by centrist and left-wing voters in an attempt to oust the Conservative Party.
