Everything you need to know about election 2024: From key dates to how to vote – all your questions answered

BRITAIN is hurtling towards a crunch July 4 General Election when millions will cast their vote.

A six-week campaign will see Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer do battle to become PM.

PA

PM Rishi Sunak announcing the election yesterday[/caption]

Jeremy Selwyn

What are the key dates?

The main date for your diaries is obviously July 4, when millions of voters will go to the polls for the General Election.

But the process of formally triggering the election will take place on Friday May 24 when Parliament is prorogued, signalling the end of the parliamentary year.

Next Thursday, May 30, will see Parliament officially dissolved which means all current MPs cease to hold office and vacate their seats.

Between then and Polling Day there will be several key events but their dates are yet to be decided.

A crucial moment will be the release of the parties’ election manifestos where they set out their list of pledges for government.

Manifesto launches usually take place between 30 and 20 days out from Polling Day – so likely around the second week of June.

TV debates between the leaders are also expected in the weeks leading up to the election, with the dates to be decided by the parties and broadcasters.

The first leadership debate at the last general election in 2019 was three weeks before polling day.

Normally the debates take place in a series over the course of ten days or so.

How do I vote?

Every British citizen aged 18 and over is eligible to vote at the General Election.

People must register to vote in the constituency where they live if they are not already, with a deadline expected around June 18.

For the first time in a general election a form of ID is now needed to cast a ballot at a polling station on July 4.

On the ballot paper will be all the candidates vying to become the seat’s MP in alphabetical order.

You have one vote, and must put an X in the box of the candidate you want to win.

Is Polling Day a public holiday?

Afraid not. Polls open at 7am and close at 10pm on July 4, so there’s still plenty of time to vote if you have to work.

If unable to make it to the polling station on Polling Day, you can apply for a postal vote or task someone with voting for you by proxy.

Are schools closed on Polling Day?

No, and parents are expected to send their kids to school.

What is the voting system?

The UK uses the first past the post voting system – which essentially means the candidate with the most votes wins.

It means candidates do not need to win a majority of voters in a constituency to become the MP, just one more vote than the person who comes second.

This is different to many European countries who use proportional representation systems – where seats are divvied up to parties based on their national vote share.

How does that decide the PM?

Whichever party leader wins a majority of the 650 Commons seats up for grabs – so 326 – will be asked by the King to form the next government.

If nobody wins an outright majority, the leader of the largest party is usually given the first crack at trying to form an administration, either as a shaky minority government or creating a coalition with smaller parties.

But that is not a clear-cut rule. In 2010 Gordon Brown briefly tried to cling on by sealing a coalition deal with the Lib Dems despite David Cameron’s Tories winning the most seats.

What are the new boundary changes?

A major shake-up of the electoral map means the constituency you voted in at the last election might not actually exist or may have moved.

The boundaries of lots of seats have been tweaked, either to take in areas of other seats, lose ground or be abolished altogether.

The carve-up was done to distribute voters more fairly so there are not wild differences in constituency populations.

For example, the Isle of Wight – which had the largest electorate – is being split down the middle into two new constituencies.