General Election 2024: What happens now an election has been called?
Rishi Sunak has called a general election for this summer.
The prime minister has been saying for months he would call a vote for the “second half of the year”, and it will now be held on Thursday, 4 July.
Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, Mr Sunak had until 17 December this year to call an election – as votes must be held no more than five years apart.
Sky News looks at what happens now.
General election latest: Rishi Sunak to call election for 4 July
Requesting permission to dissolve parliament
The prime minister has already requested permission from the King to hold a general election, as the power to dissolve parliament – end the session – legally lies with him.
Parliament must be “dissolved” for an election to officially take place. Polling day then takes place 25 working days after that date.
Mr Sunak said in a speech outside Downing Street on Wednesday that the King had granted his request to dissolve parliament.
As a result, parliament will be prorogued on Friday, 24 May, while dissolution will take place on Thursday, 30 May.
Rishi Sunak will go to the King to request the dissolution of parliament
What happens in parliament after an election is called?
There is usually a period of several days, known as “wash-up”, between an election being called and the dissolution of parliament.
During “wash-up”, parliament will continue as normal, but any parliamentary business not completed by the end of that time will not enter into law and cannot be continued into the next parliament.
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This normally leads to a rush to pass legislation through parliament to get it onto the statute book, which often means parties having to work together to agree on which bills they will support.
The longest “wash-up” period since 1992 was in 2017 when parliament sat for a further seven days after the election was called, according to Institute for Government (IfG) analysis.
What happens after parliament is dissolved?
Once parliament is dissolved, there are no longer any MPs as every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant.
House of Lords members retain their positions, but no more business happens until the next parliament begins.
Government ministers remain in post until a new government is formed.
However, government activity is restricted during the campaign period to ensure public money is not used to support the campaign of the party in power and to maintain civil service impartiality.
Restrictions normally begin when parliament has been dissolved, however, they can start before this, as they did in 2017.
Boris Johnson won the last election in 2019 with a landslide. Pic: PA
The campaign
Campaigning never stops for political parties, but it will ramp up after an election is announced.
Parties, their candidates, and supporters, will promote their policies during the campaign period by publishing informative material, knocking on doors to talk to people, writing newspaper articles, and supporters putting posters in their windows or placards in their front gardens.
There is no set time for when manifestos explaining the parties’ pledges have to be launched, but they generally happen within a few days of each other.
Voters now need to provide ID to be able to vote. Pic: PA
Since 1997, Labour and Conservative manifestos have been launched between 18 and 29 days before the election, the IfG found.
Televised debates between party leaders or other politicians became a feature of campaigns in 2010.
Their timing and format are negotiated between political parties and broadcasters, but there is no obligation for any of them to take part.
Polling stations are open from 7am until 10pm on election day. Pic: PA
Polling day
Registered voters can submit postal votes before the day, but most people go to polling stations, which are open from 7am until 10pm.
This will be the first general election where photographic ID will be required to vote.
When voting closes, an exit poll is announced following a survey of voters taken from about 150 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales.
What happens after the election?
If the current government retains a majority in the new Parliament after an election, it will continue in office and resume normal business.
If the election results in a clear majority for a different party, the incumbent prime minister and government will immediately resign, and the King will invite the leader of the party that has won the election to form a government.
It becomes slightly more complicated if the result is a hung parliament.
The current government remains in office unless and until the prime minister tenders his and the government’s resignation to the King.
The government is entitled to await the meeting of the new parliament to see if it can command the
confidence of the House of Commons or to resign if it becomes clear that it is unlikely to command that confidence.
They could also be forced to resign if they lose a vote of no confidence, at which point, the person who appears to be most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons will be asked by the Monarch to form a government.
In terms of dates, the new Parliament will be summoned to meet on Tuesday, 9 July, when the first business will be the election of the speaker and the swearing-in of members.
The state opening of Parliament will be on Wednesday, 17 July.
A senior Labour MP has said the government needs to take “corrective action” over planned disability benefit cuts – as Sir Keir Starmer faces a growing backbench rebellion.
Tan Dhesi, chair of the influential Commons defence committee, told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge the “disappointing” local election results show the government must listen and learn, particularly over welfare reforms.
The government has proposed tightening the eligibility requirements for the personal independent payment, known as PIP.
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A claimant must score a minimum of four points on one PIP daily living activity, such as preparing food, washing and bathing, using the toilet or reading, to receive the daily living element of the benefit.
Mr Dhesi, the MP for Slough, said “corrective action” needs to be taken but insisted if the government changed tact, it would not be a U-turn as the disability cuts were only proposals.
Tan Dhesi spoke to Sky’s Sophy Ridge
“A government which is in listening mode should be looking at what the electorate is saying,” he said.
“And we need to make sure that it’s our moral duty, responsibility, to look after the most vulnerable within our community, whether that’s in Slough, whether that’s elsewhere across the country.
“So, I hope that the government will be taking on board that feedback and many of us as MPs are giving that feedback in various meetings happening here in Westminster and then we need to take corrective action.”
Alex Davies-Jones said the government was seeking to ‘protect the vulnerable’
Minister Alex Davies-Jones told the Politics Hub a Labour government “will always seek to protect the most vulnerable” and it wants to “listen to people who have got real lived experience”.
She added she has the “utmost respect for Tan, he’s a great constituency MP and he’s doing exactly what he should be doing, is representing his constituency”.
Sir Keir is facing a rebellion from Labour MPs, with about 40 in the Red Wall – Labour’s traditional heartlands in the north of England – reposting a statement on social media in which they said the leadership’s response to the local elections had “fallen on deaf ears”.
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Several backbench Labour MPs also spoke out against the plans during a debate on PIP and disabled people in parliament on Wednesday.
Ian Byrne, MP for Liverpool West Derby, said he would “swim through vomit to vote against” the proposed changes and said: “This is not what the Labour Party was formed to do.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill, said she feared tightening PIP eligibility would cause deaths, adding: “Lest we forget that study that attributed 330,000 excess deaths in Britain between 2012 and 2019 to the last round of austerity cuts [under the Conservative government].”
Diane Abbott, the longest-serving female MP, accused the government of putting forward “contradictory arguments”.
“On the one hand, they insist they are helping the disabled by putting them back to work,” she said.
“But on the other hand, they say this cut will save £9bn. Well, you can’t do both.”
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‘I’ll struggle if I lose disability support’
However, fellow Labour MP David Pinto-Duschinsky, said MPs cannot “ignore this issue” of health-related benefit claimant figures rising at “twice the rate of underlying health conditions”.
Responding for the government, social security minister Sir Stephen Timms said PIP claims were set to “more than double, from two million to over 4.3 million this decade”.
“It would certainly not be in the interests of people currently claiming the benefits for the government to bury its head in the sand over that rate of increase,” he added.
A man whose dismembered body was found in a suitcase had raped and blackmailed a teenager, a court has heard.
The remains of Albert Alfonso, 62, and Paul Longworth, 71, were found in a suitcase and trunk which had been left near the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol in July 2024.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey in London accused of murdering and dismembering Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth.
The 35-year-old denies both murders but has admitted the manslaughter of Mr Alfonso.
A witness, giving evidence under the pseudonym James Smith, appeared at the trial by video link on Wednesday.
Mr Smith said he met Mr Alfonso nearly 20 years ago when he was around 17 or 18 and had gone to his flat for drinks.
He said he remembered drinking heavily and then waking up with a “banging headache”.
“I said to him, ‘what’s happened?’ – he showed me a video of me on all fours and he was penetrating me,” he told the court.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was mortified. At this point, I didn’t know my sexuality – I was confused and scared.”
He said Mr Alfonso told him if he did “favours”, the video would never be shared.
Under cross-examination, defence barrister Tom Little KC asked: “Does it cross your mind, looking back, that you were raped?”
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith replied.
“And does it cross your mind that your drink may have been spiked?”, the barrister asked.
“Now, yes,” the witness responded.
“Does it cross your mind that you were groomed by Albert Alfonso?”, Mr Little asked.
“Now, yes,” Mr Smith said.
After the alleged incident, the two met regularly, with Mr Alfonso paying Mr Smith around £150 for each sexual encounter, the court heard.
During the COVID pandemic, the witness said he became closer with Mr Alfonso and began spending time with Mr Longworth.
Mr Smith told the court he was later introduced to Mosquera.
Yostin Mosquera is on trial at the Old Bailey. Pic: Metropolitan Police/PA
He said the relationship between Mosquera and Mr Alfonso was “good – very good”.
“I didn’t see anything that seemed like they disliked each other,” he added.
He described Mr Longworth as someone who “wouldn’t hurt a fly”.
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Mr Smith said the final time he saw Mr Alfonso and Mr Longworth was on a Friday evening before the bodies were discovered.
“Albert gave me a hug, Paul gave me a hug, and that was the last I heard of those two,” he said.
The trial continues.
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