Elections and voting

A general election chooses all 650 MPs at once.
The law says a Parliament ends automatically five years after it first met, so a general election must happen at least every five years. The Prime Minister can ask the monarch to dissolve Parliament earlier.
The last general election was held on 4 July 2024.

To vote in a UK general election you must be 18 or over, registered to vote, and a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen.
You can register from 16 in England and Northern Ireland, and from 14 in Scotland and Wales (you vote once you reach voting age).
On polling day you go to a polling station and mark an X on a ballot paper. Voting is secret. You can also vote by post or by proxy (someone votes for you).
Since 2023, voters in Great Britain need photo ID at polling stations for UK general elections.
The voting age is 16 for Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections. In autumn 2026, a bill to lower the voting age to 16 for all UK elections was going through Parliament.

UK general elections use first past the post: in each constituency, the candidate with the most votes wins, even without more than half of them.
Supporters say it is simple and gives each area one clear MP. Critics say the number of seats a party wins may not match its share of the votes. The Scottish Parliament and the Senedd use more proportional systems.