Rishi Sunak has called the next general election for Thursday 4 July.
It means the nation is preparing for its first polling day since 12 December 2019.
Here’s everything you need to know about the general election and how it’s going to work…
What is a general election for?
It’s a chance for people around the UK to choose the local MP who will represent their area – known as a constituency – for up to five years in the House of Commons.
There is a choice of several candidates in each constituency and there are 650 constituencies.
Most candidates are nominated by political parties, though some stand as independents.
There are 650 seats in the House of Commons, so if an MP wins in a constituency, they win that seat in the Commons.
How does it work?
We use something called the ‘first past the post’ voting system, which means MPs win seats if they get more votes than other candidates standing in their constituency.
The party that wins an overall majority of seats – so anything more than 326 MPs – wins the election and can form the next government.
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People aged 18 or over in each constituency can vote once for their preferred candidate.
You can only have your say if you are registered to vote. For this election, the deadline to register is 11.59pm on 18 June. Read on for more on how to register – or check out our guide for everything you need on registering to vote.
How does this determine who becomes prime minister?
While you can’t vote for who you want to be prime minister directly, your vote in your local constituency contributes.
That’s because the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons at a general election forms the new government and its leader becomes prime minister.
What constituency are you in?
The July election will be fought on new boundaries, replacing the ones that have been in place since 2010.
There are 650 seats across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Just one in 10 seats – 65 – have no change to their boundaries.
That means you may be in a different constituency compared to what you were in at the last general election.
That matters because you will be voting for the politician you want to represent your constituency in parliament.
Find out what constituency you will be voting in on 4 July, how it would have voted in 2019, and how the demographic make-up has changed by entering your postcode into our lookup here.
How do I register to vote?
You have to be aged 16 or over (or 14 or over in Scotland and Wales) to register to vote.
You must also be one of the following:
A British citizen
An Irish or EU citizen living in the UK
A Commonwealth citizen who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission
A citizen of another country living in Scotland or Wales who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission.
The easiest and quickest way to register is online.
Alternatively, you can use a paper form. You can do this by contacting your local Electoral Registration Office and asking them to post a form to you.
Or, you can print your own form off. You’ll then need to return the completed form to your local Electoral Registration Office.
Can everyone who registers to vote actually vote in the general election?
No – the criteria for registering to vote is different to the criteria for voting in a general election. That’s because you’re registering for different types of votes, like local elections, which have more lax rules than parliamentary votes.
For example, you can vote in a local election if you’re 16 or over in some areas, but you have to be 18 or over in order to vote in a general election. More on age restrictions can be found here.
Here are the other criteria for voting in the general election:
Must be registered to vote in the constituency
Must be either a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland
Cannot be subject to any ‘legal incapacity’ to vote – prisoners serving a sentence for a conviction cannot vote in UK parliamentary elections and neither can peers in the House of Lords.
There are three options when it comes to voting. Whichever option you take, you must be registered to vote by the end of 18 June if you want to vote in this election.
You can vote in person at your local polling station on 4 July.
If you take this option, you’ll be sent a poll card just before an election or referendum telling you when to vote and at which polling station. It will usually be in a public building near your home, like a school or local hall.
You will be able to cast your vote any time between 7am and 10pm on the day.
Alternatively, you can vote by post. You can register to vote by post for any reason, including that you simply don’t want to go to a polling station on the day.
You can also voteby proxy, which is when someone unable to vote in person asks someone else to vote on their behalf.
Polls are open from 7am on polling day, Thursday 4 July.
You can only vote at the polling station allocated to your address.
This will be shown on your poll card. You can also enter your postcode on this website to find out where your polling station is.
You do not need to take your poll card to vote.
At the polling station, you will need to give your name and address to staff and show them your photo ID (more on the requirements for that below).
Then you will be given a ballot paper with a list of the candidates and what party they belong to.
You will vote for who you want to represent your constituency in the House of Commons – in other words, who you want your MP to be.
You vote for the candidate you want by putting a cross in the box next to their name.
There will be instructions in the polling booth telling you exactly what to do.
After you have marked your ballot paper, you fold the paper and put it in the ballot box.
For those leaving it late or who are delayed, such as by major events taking place on the same day, you must be inside the polling station or in a queue at the polling station by 10pm in order to be given a ballot paper and then vote, as laid out in rules in the Electoral Commission handbook.
What is the exit poll – and how accurate is it?
When voting closes at 10pm, the results of an exit poll are announced.
The exit poll is taken from a survey of voters in about 150 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales that have been chosen to be demographically representative of the country.
As voters exit polling stations, they are asked who they voted for.
They mark who they voted for on a replica ballot paper and drop this in a box – replicating what they just did inside the polling station.
Analysts take these results, compare them to previous exit polls at the same polling stations and project how many seats each party will end up with once all the votes are counted.
Exit polls aren’t always perfect, but they tend to give an accurate indication of what the outcome will be.
In some years, they have predicted the winning party’s majority down to the exact number of seats – but there have been notable times exit polls have been wrong, including the 2015 exit poll that suggested a hung parliament, not a Conservative majority.
What happens when polls close?
After 10pm, once all votes are in, ballot boxes in all constituencies are taken to what’s known as a “count centre” – a large space like a community hall where counting can begin.
This is a lengthy process and goes on through the night.
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How votes are counted
Results come in throughout the night and by early morning, it is usually clear which party has the majority.
The final results tend to come in by late morning.
What is a hung parliament?
A hung parliament happens when no party has the 326 seats needed for the majority that allows them to govern outright.
Protocol means that the previous government generally remains in place while there is a period of negotiation as discussions take place to form a coalition.
It can take several weeks before parties strike an agreement to form a coalition.
If the incumbent government is unable to form a coalition big enough to rule, they may either resign and the largest opposition party may be invited to form a government, or they may try to continue to govern as a minority government.
What is the process with the new PM?
The prime minister is technically appointed by the monarch rather than the public, but the monarch honours democracy by appointing them based on which party wins the general 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 prime minister already in office and government will immediately resign, and the King will invite the leader of the party that has won the election to form a government.
When does the new prime minister (or re-elected one) walk into Number 10?
Prime ministers, by tradition, get to move into the iconic 10 Downing Street. And of course, prime ministers who retain their role get to remain there.
It has three functions: it’s the official residence of the PM, it’s their office, and it is also the place where they entertain guests.
There isn’t a set time when a prime minister needs to move in. In fact, there is no requirement for them to move in at all if they don’t wish to.
But they do always operate at Number 10 in some capacity, even if it’s just used as their office or a place to entertain guests.
In recent times, when a prime minister has resigned or lost an election, they tend to be photographed with their families at Downing Street shortly after results are in and then drive to Buckingham Palace (or another royal residence) to formally resign.
They often make a speech outside the property’s famous black door before they leave.
New prime ministers generally go there on the same day and make a speech of their own, before entering Number 10 to applause from staff.
What are the rules on voter ID?
This will be the first general election where voters will need to take photo ID to the polling station.
The ID can be out of date, as long as it still looks like you and the name is the same one used to register to vote.
If you don’t have any of the accepted forms of ID, you can register for a Voter Authority Certificate.
The deadline is 26 June, and you must have already registered to vote.
If you’re voting as someone’s proxy, you need to take your own ID – not theirs.
What is tactical voting?
You may have heard the term through friends and family who are considering the best way to use their vote.
Based on what we’ve covered so far, it may sound like your only option is to vote for whichever candidate you believe will best represent your constituency.
But tactical voting is a less conventional way of voting, and is often used when someone feels their preferred candidate has little chance of getting the most votes in their constituency.
Essentially, it’s when you vote for a political party or person that you wouldn’t usually support in order to prevent another party or person from winning.
The two main ways of doing this are:
Vote swapping – where you agree to vote for a party on someone else’s behalf, and they’ll vote for your preferred party in their constituency
Least worst option – where you would select a different party to vote for in your constituency which you consider to be the best of the rest.
What are the key issues the election will be fought over?
Rishi Sunak will be hoping to use the improving economic outlook to make a case that the nation should stick with him, while Sir Keir Starmer will attack the Tories’ 14-year record in government to make the case for change.
Rishi Sunak will point to inflation coming down and recent tax cuts as signs the Conservatives are the safest hands, while hints about further tax cuts will be used to woo voters.
Labour will argue its strict fiscal rules will help bring down debt and grow the economy, likely pointing to rising food and energy bills and the mortgage chaos triggered by Liz Truss’s mini-budget.
NHS and social care
Rishi Sunak made cutting NHS waiting lists one of his main pledges, committing record funding of nearly £165bn – but a huge backlog remains.
There is also a crisis in dentistry and social care leaders have warned that rising demand and staffing issues have brought the system to its knees.
Labour’s headline pledges include promising to cut waiting times with thousands of extra appointments each week and creating shared waiting lists so hospitals can pool resources.
Immigration
Mr Sunak staked his premiership on a promise to “stop the boats” and the government’s Rwanda Bill finally became law last month – but the decision to call a summer election means planes won’t take off before people go to the polls.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to scrap the deal and use the money instead for a new Cross Border Police Unit to tackle small boat crossings.
Education and childcare
Education is a key dividing line between the two main parties. One of Labour’s flagship policies is to end tax breaks enjoyed by private schools to raise £1.7bn to invest in state schools.
Childcare, too, is a divisive issue. Labour has committed to keeping the government-extended free provision, but has said there are not enough staff to match the places.
Housing
The Tories pledged in their election manifesto to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, but that has not been achieved and the figure watered down in December 2022.
Labour has vowed to be on the side of “builders not blockers” and has announced its ambition to create 1.5 million new homes through the creation of “new towns”.
The government’s flagship renters reform and leasehold reform bills will not make it into law before the election. Labour has backed both pieces of legislation but wants to go further and says it will abolish no-fault evictions.
Crime
The criminal justice system faces major issues, with prisons overflowing, knife crime on the rise, a record-high crown court backlog, and prosecutions at an all-time low.
The Conservatives have announced plans for tougher sentences for the most serious criminals and measures to force offenders to appear in the dock.
Image: Sam Coates, Sir Trevor Phillips, Sophy Ridge, Kay Burley, Beth Rigby and Ed Conway
Sky News will have live coverage and an award-winning line-up, bringing you everything as soon as it happens, with commentary and analysis to help you digest key developments.
Chief presenter Kay Burley will anchor Election Night Live, with analysis from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Baroness Ruth Davidson.
They will be joined by Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, the presenter of our Sunday breakfast show Sir Trevor Phillips, and data and economics editor Ed Conway.
From 7am on the morning after the vote, lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge, will be live from Westminster, joined by deputy political editor Sam Coates and Sky News contributor Adam Boulton.
Watch on TV:
Freeview 233, Sky 501, Virgin 603, BT 313, YouTube and the Sky News website and app.
The new trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump may place added pressure on the Bitcoin mining ecosystem both domestically and globally, according to one industry executive.
While the US is home to Bitcoin (BTC) mining manufacturing firms such as Auradine, it’s still “not possible to make the whole supply chain, including materials, US-based,” Kristian Csepcsar, chief marketing officer at BTC mining tech provider Braiins, told Cointelegraph.
On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a 10% tariff on all countries that export to the US and introducing “reciprocal” levies targeting America’s key trading partners.
Community members have debated the potential effects of the tariffs on Bitcoin, with some saying their impact has been overstated, while others see them as a significant threat.
Tariffs compound existing mining challenges
Csepcsar said the mining industry is already experiencing tough times, pointing to key indicators like the BTC hashprice.
Hashprice — a measure of a miner’s daily revenue per unit of hash power spent to mine BTC blocks — has been on the decline since 2022 and dropped to all-time lows of $50 for the first time in 2024.
According to data from Bitbo, the BTC hashprice was still hovering around all-time low levels of $53 on March 30.
Bitcoin hashprice since late 2013. Source: Bitbo
“Hashprice is the key metric miners follow to understand their bottom line. It is how many dollars one terahash makes a day. A key profitability metric, and it is at all-time lows, ever,” Csepcsar said.
He added that mining equipment tariffs were already increasing under the Biden administration in 2024, and cited comments from Summer Meng, general manager at Chinese crypto mining supplier Bitmars.
“But they keep getting stricter under Trump,” Csepcsar added, referring to companies such as the China-based Bitmain — the world’s largest ASIC manufacturer — which is subject to the new tariffs.
Trump’s latest measures include a 34% additional tariff on top of an existing 20% levy for Chinese mining imports. In response, China reportedly imposed its own retaliatory tariffs on April 4.
BTC mining firms to “lose in the short term”
Csepcsar also noted that cutting-edge chips for crypto mining are currently massively produced in countries like Taiwan and South Korea, which were hit by new 32% and 25% tariffs, respectively.
“It will take a decade for the US to catch up with cutting-edge chip manufacturing. So again, companies, including American ones, lose in the short term,” he said.
Csepcsar also observed that some countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States region, including Russia and Kazakhstan, have been beefing up mining efforts and could potentially overtake the US in hashrate dominance.
“If we continue to see trade war, these regions with low tariffs and more favorable mining conditions can see a major boom,” Csepcsar warned.
As the newly announced tariffs potentially hurt Bitcoin mining both globally and in the US, it may become more difficult for Trump to keep his promise of making the US the global mining leader.
Trump’s stance on crypto has shifted multiple times over the years. As his administration embraces a more pro-crypto agenda, it remains to be seen how the latest economic policies will impact his long-term strategy for digital assets.
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under renewed regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Maltese authorities issued a major fine for violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.
Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) fined Okcoin Europe — OKX’s Europe-based subsidiary — 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after detecting multiple AML failures on the platform in the past, the authority announced on April 3.
While admitting that OKX has significantly improved its AML policies in the past 18 months, the authority “could not ignore” its past compliance failures from 2023, “some of which were deemed to be serious and systematic,” the FIAU notice said.
The news of the $1.2 million penalty in Malta came after Bloomberg in March reported that European Union regulators were probing OKX for laundering $100 million in funds from the Bybit hack.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou previously claimed that OKX’s Web3 proxy allowed hackers to launder about $100 million, or 40,233 Ether (ETH), from the $1.5 billion hack that occurred in February.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
Authorities in the US state of Massachusetts continue targeting unlawful cryptocurrency market practices, with a local court fining crypto financial services firm CLS Global.
A federal court in Boston on April 2 sentenced CLS Global on criminal charges related to fraudulent manipulation of crypto trading volume, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office.
In addition to a $428,059 fine, the court prohibited CLS Global from offering services in the US for a probation period of three years.
CLS Global, a crypto market maker registered in the United Arab Emirates, in January pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and one count of wire fraud.
CLS agreed to manipulate the FBI’s “trap token” NexFundAI
The charges against CLS Global followed an undercover law enforcement operation involving NexFundAI, a token created by the FBI as part of a sting operation in May 2024.
CLS Global was among at least three firms that took the FBI’s bait and agreed to provide “market maker services” for NexFundAI, including a fraudulent scheme to attract investors to purchase the token.
In October 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges against CLS and its employee, Andrey Zhorzhes. The US securities regulator also filed complaints against two other NexFundAI manipulators, Hong Kong-linked ZM Quant Investment and Russia-linked Gotbit Consulting.
CLS Global’s profile
According to CLS Global CEO Filipp Veselov, the company was founded in 2017 to fill in a “huge gap in the market for high-quality market-making solutions and trading consulting.”
Prior to CLS, Veselov worked at the Russian cryptocurrency exchange platform Latoken, which is advertised as a “global digital asset exchange” and has about 370,000 followers on X.
The CLS team also includes chief revenue officer Pavel Singaevskii, who previously served as sales manager at Stex, a crypto platform that reportedly ceased operations without warning in 2023.
According to CLS Global’s X page, the platform continues operating and has more than 110,000 followers at the time of publication.
How much wash trading is in crypto?
Wash trading is an illegal practice involving artificially inflating trading volume by repeatedly buying and selling the same asset, generating a misleading perception of demand.
According to a January 2025 report by the US blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, the crypto market has at least $2.6 billion in estimated wash traded volumes, or just about 2% of total daily crypto trading volumes, as reported by CoinGecko.
Estimated wash trade volume in crypto. Source: Chainalysis