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General Election Timetable 2024: Parliament will be dissolved on 30 May

A general election will be held in the UK on 4 July 2024.

The general election timetable for 2024, below, is derived from the timetable information published by the Electoral Commission.

Key events that make elections possible are set out in legislation and must be followed by returning officers, who are responsible for the conduct of elections in their constituencies.

Election timetables for UK general and parliamentary by-elections are set out in the parliamentary elections rules in schedule 1 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, as amended. These include things like nominations to stand in the election and polling day.

There are also key dates for voters wanting to register to vote and apply for or proxy votes, but these are contained in regulations set out in secondary legislation. There are three separate sets of regulations for the three legal jurisdictions of the UK – England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

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The table below shows the key dates relating to the 2024 election.

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In the working days before the general election on 4 July 2024, there are key dates for nominating candidates and registering to vote.

What is the 2024 Election timetable?

The general election timetable takes 25 working days. Weekends and bank holidays (in any part of the UK) do not count. There are no bank holidays in the period of the timetable this year.

The start of the timetable occurs when Parliament is dissolved, that is 30 May 2024 at 0:01 hours This counts as day zero. Polling day is 25 working days later, when polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm.

 

What is dissolution of parliament?

At dissolution all the business in both Houses comes to an end and all MPs lose their seats in the House of Commons.

The formal end to the parliamentary session is called ‘prorogation‘. This may take place a few days before dissolution.

House of Commons

When Parliament is dissolved, every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant. All business in the House comes to an end. MPs stop representing their constituencies. There will be no MPs until after the general election.

MPs can come into Parliament for a few days after dissolution to clear their offices.

Those who wish to be MPs again must stand again as candidates for election.

Writs

Writs are legal documents which authorise a general election. A writ is issued for each constituency and sent to the relevant returning officer. There are 650 constituencies in the UK Parliament.

Writs are deemed to have been delivered the day after dissolution even if the physical delivery of the writ is delayed.

Voter ID

Voters who want to vote in person at a polling station must take photographic ID. The list of allowable ID is on the Electoral Commission’s Voter ID pages

Voters without one of the listed types of photo ID can apply for a voter authority certificate (VAC). The Electoral Commission’s Applying for a Voter Authority Certificate pages explains how to apply.

Temporary VACs can be issues for a specific polling day if someone loses their VAC or it is not delivered. This can only be done under specific circumstances and the election team at a local council is the best place to deal with requests.

A temporary VAC may be issued up to 10pm on polling day, but if issued a voter must get to the polling station before 10pm in order to vote.

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