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All 650 seats[a] in the House of Commons 326 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The next United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held no later than Friday 24 January 2025, after the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 repealed the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.
The result at the last general election and the current situation in the House of Commons is given below:
Affiliation | Members | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Elected[1] | Current[2] | Change | ||
Conservative[b] | 365 | 359 | ![]() | |
Labour[c] | 202 | 199 | ![]() | |
SNP | 48 | 45 | ![]() | |
Liberal Democrats | 11 | 13 | ![]() | |
DUP | 8 | 8 | ![]() | |
Sinn Féin | 7 | 7 | ![]() | |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | 3 | ![]() | |
SDLP | 2 | 2 | ![]() | |
Alba | 0 | 2 | ![]() | |
Green | 1 | 1 | ![]() | |
Alliance | 1 | 1 | ![]() | |
Speaker | 1 | 1 | ![]() | |
Independent | 0 | 7 | ![]() | |
Total | 650 | 648 | ![]() | |
Voting total[d] | 639 | 637 | ![]() | |
Vacant | 0 | 2 | ![]() | |
Government majority | 87[e] | 77[f] | ![]() |
For full details of changes during the current Parliament, see Defections and suspensions and By-elections.
Ahead of this general election, HuffPost reported in March 2022 that the Labour Party abandoned all-women shortlists, citing legal advice that continuing to use them for choosing parliamentary candidates would become an "unlawful" practice again under the Equality Act 2010.[6]
See also: Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 |
Provisionally, the next general election will be conducted using the same electoral system as the 2019 election (first-past-the-post).
The Conservative Party, which won a majority at the 2019 general election, included pledges in its manifesto to remove the fifteen-year limit on voting for British citizens living abroad, and to introduce a voter identification requirement[7] in Great Britain.
In March 2020, Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith confirmed that the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies would commence based on retaining 650 seats.[8][9] The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies began in January 2021 with the previous relevant legislation having been amended by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020.[10]
The postponed Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies proposed reducing the number of constituencies from 650 to 600. In April 2016, each of the four parliamentary Boundary Commissions of the United Kingdom recommenced their review process.[11][12][13] A projection by psephologists Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher of how the 2017 votes would have translated to seats under the new boundaries suggested the changes would be beneficial to the Conservatives and detrimental to Labour.[14][15]
Prior to the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, boundary changes could not be implemented until they were approved by both Houses of Parliament. No changes were submitted by the government during the 2017–2019 Parliament.[16] The majority Conservative government manifesto states that this will be implemented before the next general election.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) introduced fixed-term parliaments to the United Kingdom, with elections scheduled on the first Thursday in May of the fifth year after the previous general election, unless the previous general election took place between 1 January and the first Thursday in May, in which case the election would have taken place on the first Thursday in May of the fourth year after the previous general election.[17]
Removing the power of the monarch, on advice of the prime minister, to dissolve parliament before its five-year maximum length,[17] the act permitted early dissolution if the House of Commons voted by a two-thirds supermajority. Parliament would also have been dissolved if a government had lost a vote of no confidence by a simple majority and a new government had not been formed within 14 days.[18] Alternatively, a bill requiring just a simple majority in both Houses could be introduced to establish in law an earlier date for the election, which is how the date of the previous general election was set in 2019.[19] Under the Act, the next general election would have taken place by no later than Thursday 2 May 2024.[20] Under the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 parliament would have been dissolved 25 working days before this date on Tuesday 26 March.[21] Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister might have scheduled polling day up to two months after 2 May, subject to approval by both Houses.
At the 2019 general election, where the Conservatives won a majority of 80 seats, the manifesto of the party contained a commitment to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act due to "paralysis at a time when the country has needed decisive action".[22] The pledge was confirmed in the first Queen's Speech following the election.[23]
In December 2020, the government published a draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill, later retitled the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill when it was laid before Parliament in May 2021,[24] which would ultimately repeal the 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act, revive the prerogative powers of the monarch to dissolve Parliament (at the request of the Prime Minister), and ensure that a Parliament is automatically dissolved five years after it first met (17 December 2024) and polling day being 25 working days later (24 January 2025).[25]
The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill was granted Royal Assent on 24 March 2022, meaning that the Prime Minister will again be able to request the monarch to dissolve Parliament and call an early election, with 25 working days' notice. In September 2021, Oliver Dowden, the newly appointed chairman of the Conservative Party, told party staff to prepare for a general election in May or June 2023.[26][27] In March 2022, Dowden announced that the Conservatives would start a two-year election campaign in May, implying an election date of May 2024.[28]
Opinion polling for UK general elections |
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2010 election |
Opinion polls |
2015 election |
Opinion polls • Leadership approval |
2017 election |
Opinion polls • Leadership approval |
2019 election |
Opinion polls • Leadership approval |
Next election |
Opinion polls • Leadership approval |
The chart below shows opinion polls conducted for the next United Kingdom general election. The trend lines are local regressions (LOESS).