Brits head to the polls on 4 July. Here’s what you need to know about the parties, leaders and key election issues.
Following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a general election on 22 May, Britons will head to the polls on 4 July to choose the next party to lead the country.
Opinion polls suggest the vote would give Labour a majority after 14 years of Conservative rule.
Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming UK general election.
The UK, which consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, has a population of approximately 67 million and is the world’s sixth largest economy.
When does voting begin?
Polling stations across the UK will be open on 4 July from 7am to 10pm local time (6am to 9pm GMT).
When will the results be announced?
Exit polls at around 10pm GMT on Thursday will reveal where voters stand, with some results due before midnight but the majority of constituency results expected to be released in the early hours of Friday morning.
In 2019, the Conservative victory was assured by around 5am.
How does voting work in the UK?
Voters in 650 constituencies across the UK elect their members to the House of Commons through a single-member constituency system. To win in each constituency, and thus gain a seat in the House of Commons, a candidate must receive more votes than any other competitor.
A party needs to win at least 50% of the seats (326) in Parliament to have a majority in the House of Commons and be asked by King Charles III to form a government. Members of Parliament’s upper house, the House of Lords, are appointed rather than elected.
If no party wins a majority, the parliament will be divided.
How is the UK government structured?
The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and King Charles III is its head of state, but his role is largely symbolic and ceremonial, for example giving royal assent to bills.
Parliament is bicameral, with the House of Commons and the House of Lords located in the Palace of Westminster.
- The House of Commons is made up of 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) elected by the people.
- Unlike the House of Commons, the House of Lords does not have a fixed number of members. As of 20 June 2024, there are 784 sitting members of the House of Lords. The House of Lords is made up of life peers, hereditary peers and bishops.
The executive branch of government, which implements the laws, is headed by the Prime Minister, who serves a five-year term and is responsible for appointing the members of Cabinet (usually senior ministers who head government departments).
The UK has devolved governments, such as the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly, each of which has certain legislative powers.
The current British parliament
The House of Commons is made up of 650 seats, each representing a constituency across the UK.
Before parliament closed on 30 May, the House of Representatives was represented by 13 parties and 17 independents:
- Conservative Party – 344 seats (52.9%)
- Labour – 205 seats (31.5%)
- Scottish National Party (SNP) – 43 seats (6.6%)
- Liberal Democratic Party – 15 seats (2.3%)
The remaining 43 seats were held by nine other parties and independent candidates.
How have the parties fared in previous elections?
The Conservative Party has been in power for the past 14 years and has appointed five prime ministers.
In the 2019 general election, the Conservative Party won 365 seats with 43% of the vote, and Boris Johnson became the leader. Since then, they have lost seats in by-elections and other elections, and currently (before Parliament was dissolved on May 30th, and in the run-up to the general election) they have 344 seats. The Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, won 202 seats with 32% of the vote in 2019. This number has increased to 205 seats.
The last Labour government was led by Gordon Brown, who led the UK from 2007 to 2010.
Who are the major leaders/parties?
There are several political parties in the UK, but two have dominated the political scene in the 20th and 21st centuries: the Conservative Party and the Labour Party.
- The Conservative Party, also known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party currently led by Rishi Sunak, who took over as leader from Liz Truss in October 2022.
- Labour is a centre-left party led by Keir Starmer that ruled under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 1997 to 2010.
- The Liberal Democrats are a centre-to-centre-left party led by Ed Davey. From 2010 to 2015, they formed a coalition government with Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who was then leader of the Liberal Democrats.
- the Green Party, a left-wing environmental political group led by Carla Denier and Adrian Ramsay;
- Reform UK is a right-wing party led by Nigel Farage.
- SNP (Scottish National Party), a centre-left party led by John Swinney.
- Plaid Cymru is a left-of-centre Welsh political party led by Rune ap Iorwelth.
- The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party), a centre-right party in Northern Ireland, led by Gavin Robinson.
What are the key issues heading into the 2024 general election?
The economy, healthcare, immigration, the housing crisis and the environment are some of the most important issues facing Britons ahead of the election, according to a survey by pollster YouGov.
The survey results as of June 24th are as follows:
- Economy: 52 percent
- Health: 50 percent
- Immigration and asylum: 40 percent
- Housing: 24 percent
- Environment: 20 percent
