
Understanding the general election: Postal votes to party promises – your ultimate guide
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adminRishi 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.
Read our guide to registering to vote – including what it means to be added to the official electoral register.
How do I vote?
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 vote by proxy, which is when someone unable to vote in person asks someone else to vote on their behalf.
For more on how to vote if you won’t be at home on polling day, read our guide to postal and proxy votes.
What happens on polling day?

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.
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.
There are 22 different types of ID you can use – you can find a list in our full guide to the voter ID rules.
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.
Want to know more? Read more in our guide to tactical voting.
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.
Here’s a rundown of the main battlegrounds – with more detail in our full guide to election issues.

Economy
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.
Labour have promised to be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” with pledges to fund more community police officers and give parents classes to handle anti-social behaviour.
How to watch on Sky News

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.
Streams and social:
Watch Sky News live here, and on YouTube.
We will also be posting the latest videos and stories on TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Listen:
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UK
At least 13 postmasters may have taken their own lives, public inquiry into Post Office scandal finds
Published
2 hours agoon
July 8, 2025By
admin
At least 13 postmasters may have taken their own lives after being accused of wrongdoing based on evidence from the Horizon IT system that the Post Office and developers Fujitsu knew could be false, the public inquiry has found.
A further 59 people told the inquiry they considered ending their lives, 10 of whom tried on at least one occasion, while other postmasters and family members recount suffering from alcoholism and mental health disorders including anorexia and depression, family breakup, divorce, bankruptcy and personal abuse.
Follow latest on public inquiry into Post Office scandal
Writing in the first volume of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry report, chairman Sir Wyn Williams concludes that this enormous personal toll came despite senior employees at the Post Office knowing the Horizon IT system could produce accounts “which were illusory rather than real” even before it was rolled out to branches.
Sir Wyn said: “I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that a number of senior, and not so senior, employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least, should have known that Legacy Horizon was capable of error… Yet, for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.”
Referring to the updated version of Horizon, known as Horizon Online, which also had “bugs errors and defects” that could create illusory accounts, he said: “I am satisfied that a number of employees of Fujitsu and the Post Office knew that this was so.”
The first volume of the report focuses on what Sir Wyn calls the “disastrous” impact of false accusations made against at least 1,000 postmasters, and the various redress schemes the Post Office and government has established since miscarriages of justice were identified and proven.
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3:28
‘It stole a lot from me’
Recommendations regarding the conduct of senior management of the Post Office, Fujitsu and ministers will come in a subsequent report, but Sir Wyn is clear that unjust and flawed prosecutions were knowingly pursued.
“All of these people are properly to be regarded as victims of wholly unacceptable behaviour perpetrated by a number of individuals employed by and/or associated with the Post Office and Fujitsu from time to time and by the Post Office and Fujitsu as institutions,” he says.
What are the inquiry’s recommendations?
Calling for urgent action from government and the Post Office to ensure “full and fair compensation”, he makes 19 recommendations including:
• Government and the Post Office to agree a definition of “full and fair” compensation to be used when agreeing payouts
• Ending “unnecessarily adversarial attitude” to initial offers that have depressed the value of payouts, and ensuring consistency across all four compensation schemes
• The creation of a standing body to administer financial redress to people wronged by public bodies
• Compensation to be extended to close family members of those affected who have suffered “serious negative consequences”
• The Post Office, Fujitsu and government agreeing a programme for “restorative justice”, a process that brings together those that have suffered harm with those that have caused it
Regarding the human impact of the Post Office’s pursuit of postmasters, including its use of unique powers of prosecution, Sir Wyn writes: “I do not think it is easy to exaggerate the trauma which persons are likely to suffer when they are the subject of criminal investigation, prosecution, conviction and sentence.”
He says that even the process of being interviewed under caution by Post Office investigators “will have been troubling at best and harrowing at worst”.
Read more:
Post Office inquiry lays bare heart-breaking legacy – analysis
‘Hostile and abusive behaviour’
The report finds that those wrongfully convicted were “subject to hostile and abusive behaviour” in their local communities, felt shame and embarrassment, with some feeling forced to move.
Detailing the impact on close family members of those prosecuted, Sir Wyn writes: “Wives, husbands, children and parents endured very significant suffering in the form of distress, worry and disruption to home life, in employment and education.
“In a number of cases, relationships with spouses broke down and ended in divorce or separation.
“In the most egregious cases, family members themselves suffered psychiatric illnesses or psychological problems and very significant financial losses… their suffering has been acute.”
The report includes 17 case studies of those affected by the scandal including some who have never spoken publicly before. They include Millie Castleton, daughter of Lee Castleton, one of the first postmasters prosecuted.
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1:34
Three things you need to know about Post Office report
She told the inquiry how her family being “branded thieves and liars” affected her mental health, and contributed to a diagnosis of anorexia that forced her to drop out of university.
Her account concludes: “Even now as I go into my career, I still find it so incredibly hard to trust anyone, even subconsciously. I sabotage myself by not asking for help with anything.
“I’m trying hard to break this cycle but I’m 26 and am very conscious that I may never be able to fully commit to natural trust. But my family is still fighting. I’m still fighting, as are many hundreds involved in the Post Office trial.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the inquiry’s report “marks an important milestone for sub-postmasters and their families”.
He added that he was “committed to ensuring wronged sub-postmasters are given full, fair, and prompt redress”.
“The recommendations contained in Sir Wyn’s report require careful reflection, including on further action to complete the redress schemes,” Mr Reynolds said.
“Government will promptly respond to the recommendations in full in parliament.”
Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said, “Sir Wyn’s report highlights a series of failings by the Post Office and various governments. His recommendations are immensely helpful as a guide for what is needed to finish the job”.
UK
Norman Tebbit: Margaret Thatcher loyalist and IRA bombing survivor forever associated with ‘on yer bike’ catchphrase
Published
2 hours agoon
July 8, 2025By
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Lord Tebbit of Chingford was one of Margaret Thatcher’s staunchest “true blue” political allies and the survivor of an IRA bombing in 1984.
Tributes have been paid to the former Tory minister – following his death at the age of 94 – as a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s, entering the cabinet as employment secretary and leaving six years later as Conservative Party chairman.
He would forever be associated with the “on yer bike” catchphrase, as well as controversially having claimed a large proportion of Britain’s Asian population failed to pass the “cricket test”.

Norman Tebbit has died at the age of 94. Pic: PA
Norman Beresford Tebbit was born in Ponders End, a working-class suburb of north London, on 29 March 1931 to Leonard and Edith Tebbit.
In 1942, he joined Edmonton County Grammar School before leaving at the age of 16 to work for the Financial Times, a job that would foment the anti-trade union politics he became known for when he joined parliament decades later, aged 39.
Before entering Westminster, Lord Tebbit trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a jet. He had a hunch, however, that it was a career in frontline politics that would define his life.
As a working-class boy from north London – and not a “knight from the shires” he thought composed so much of the Conservative Party – he rose up the ranks to serve in Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet.
In one of the many interviews he gave about his life over the years, Lord Tebbit spoke with pride about his ability to retain a “line of communication” with “those people” who came from humble backgrounds such as his.

Norman Tebbit (back left) with Margaret Thatcher at the launch of the 1983 Tory manifesto. Pic: PA
“I’m still proud of the fact that when I walk down the road there’s often a shout from the bus or the lorry or the building site: ”ere, Norm, ‘ow ya doin’, mate?’ he told the Independent in 1993, a year after he stood down as the MP for Chingford. “And I’m proud of that because it means that I’ve got a line of communication to those people.”
‘Chingford skinhead’
It was perhaps Lord Tebbit’s ability to communicate in the same language as “those people” that earned him the reputation of a plain-speaking populist on the Conservative right, or the “Chingford skinhead”.
His most prized position in the cabinet was, however, that of Mrs Thatcher’s right-hand man and loyal attack dog, which the satirists at Spitting Image conveyed by kitting out Lord Tebbit in black leather and bovver boots used to discipline any cabinet minister who did not toe the party line.
His hard-line stance became useful to Mrs Thatcher when she was determined to take on the unions in the 1980s. It was a mission that saw Jim Prior ousted as employment secretary – along with the other cabinet “wets” (Conservative MPs seen as opposed to Mrs Thatcher’s policies for being too hardline/right-wing) – and Lord Tebbit promoted in his place.

Norman Tebbit was one of Margaret Thatcher’s staunchest political allies. Pic: PA
Years earlier, he had brandished his anti-union credentials in a debate with then employment secretary Michael Foot that culminated in him being labelled a “semi-house-trained polecat”.
Lord Tebbit said the insult “demeaned” his opponent but “gave my political career a tremendous lift”. When he was made a peer in 1992, he proudly chose a polecat as one of the symbols on his coat of arms.
‘On yer bike’
In the 1980s, Lord Tebbit was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.
His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the Black community and the police.
In response to Iain Picton, the Young Conservatives’ national chairman, suggesting that rioting was a natural reaction to unemployment, Lord Tebbit famously told the Conservative Party conference: “I grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father. He didn’t riot. He got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it.”
Lord Tebbit would forever be associated with the “on yer bike” catchphrase by enthusiasts and critics alike.
Tragedy strikes
The evident ideological harmony between Mrs Thatcher and Lord Tebbit made him her natural successor in the eyes of many, but in 1984, tragedy struck in his personal life that all but capped any leadership ambitions he harboured of his own.
Lord Tebbit was accompanying the prime minister and the rest of the Conservative cabinet to the Grand Hotel in Brighton for the party’s annual conference when it was hit by an IRA bomb, killing five people and injuring 34.

Norman Tebbit was seriously injured in the IRA attack on Brighton’s Grand Hotel. Pic: PA
He had been asleep in his hotel room with his wife, Margaret, when the ceiling collapsed. They both fell four floors and spent hours buried in the rubble.
Lord Tebbit would spend three months in hospital and after would walk with a slight limp. His wife was never able to walk again and needed constant care.
He later spoke of how he felt unable to forgive the man responsible, Patrick Magee, or indeed the rest of the IRA and the late Martin McGuinness for their actions.

Norman Tebbit (back left) with Margaret Thatcher at the launch of the 1983 Tory manifesto. Pic: PA
Following Mr McGuinness’s death in 2017, Lord Tebbit said, in characteristically blunt language: “He claimed to be a Roman Catholic. I hope that his beliefs turn out to be true and he’ll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity.”
Shortly after the Brighton bomb, Lord Tebbit was appointed Conservative Party chair, successfully shepherding in another landslide victory in 1987.
It proved to be his last hurrah in the Commons. Later that year, he stepped down from the cabinet to care for his wife – and his relationship with Mrs Thatcher having become uneasy due to his ever-rising profile.
In 1992, two years after Mrs Thatcher was ousted by the pro-Europeans in her party, Lord Tebbit stood down as the MP for Chingford and went to the House of Lords.
Squabbles over Europe
Lord Tebbit may have left frontline politics, but he would prove to be a perennial thorn in the side of Sir John Major on the question of Europe – showing him up at the Conservative Party conference in 1992 with a barnstorming speech opposing the Maastricht Treaty, which established the EU.
His anti-EU views would continue long into the reign of David Cameron, whom he considered a “newcomer” to the traditional torch-bearing Tory party.
Lord Tebbit continued to campaign for the UK to leave the EU as patron of the cross-party Better Off Out campaign, and urged people to vote UKIP in the European elections of 2009.
It was not just issues involving Europe where Lord Tebbit’s views diverged from the modern Conservative Party. In 2000, Steve Norris, then Conservative Party vice chairman, branded him a “racist and a homophobe”.
Lord Tebbit caused controversy when he claimed a large proportion of Britain’s Asian population failed to pass the “cricket test” by continuing to support overseas teams, and for suggesting the Gay Marriage Bill of 2013 could lead to a lesbian Queen giving birth to a future monarch by artificial insemination.

Lord Tebbit with his wife Margaret. Pic: PA
In 2022, he retired from the House of Lords, two years after his wife died from a “particularly foul” form of dementia.
He continued to remain as engaged in politics as ever, writing prolifically in the columns of newspapers where he would reflect on his extraordinary 50-year stretch in politics.
In one memorable interview with The Independent, he said a regret that both he and Mrs Thatcher had was that they both “neglected to clone ourselves”.
A more serious – and less tongue-in-cheek – regret was expressed when Mrs Thatcher died in 2013 and tributes were made in her honour in parliament.
Lord Tebbit rose to his feet and said: “My regrets? I think I do regret that because of the commitments I had made to my own wife that I did not feel able either to continue in government after 1987 or to return to government when she later asked me to do and I left her, I fear, at the mercy of her friends. That I do regret.”
Lord Tebbit is survived by his three children, John, Alison and William.
UK
Cyber attack on M&S involved ‘sophisticated impersonation’, chairman says
Published
2 hours agoon
July 8, 2025By
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The chairman of Marks & Spencer has told MPs the company is “still in the rebuild mode” and will be for “some time to come” following a cyber attack which led to empty shelves and limited online operations for months.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the attack, Archie Norman declined to answer whether the business had paid a ransom.
“It’s a business decision, it’s a principal decision,” he told members of the Business and Trade Committee (BTC).
“The question you have to ask is – and I think all businesses should ask – is, when they look at the demand, what are they getting for it?
“Because once your systems are compromised and you’re going to have to rebuild anyway, maybe they’ve got exfiltrated data that you don’t want to publish. Maybe there’s something there, but in our case, substantially the damage had been done.”
Money blog: 10 happiest and unhappiest professions for shift workers
When asked again later in the BTC evidence session, Mr Norman said, “We’re not discussing any of the details of our interaction with the threat actor, including this subject, but that subject is fully shared with the NCA [National Crime Agency].”
“We don’t think it’s in the public interest to go into that subject on it, because it is a matter of law enforcement”, he added.
What happened?
The initial entry into M&S’s systems took place on 17 April through “sophisticated impersonation” that involved a third party, Mr Norman said.
It was two days later, on Easter Saturday, before the company became aware of the attack, and approximately a week after the intrusion, before the retailer heard directly from the attacker.
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1:21
Who is behind M&S cyberattack?
A day later, after learning of the attack, the authorities were notified, while customers were told on Tuesday, MPs heard.
As well as British authorities, the US FBI was contacted, who are “more muscled up in this zone” and were “very supportive”, Mr Norman said.
By the time the breach is clear, systems have already been compromised, the chairman said.
The group behind the attack may have been Scattered Spider, some of whom are believed to be English-speaking teenagers, but Mr Norman said M&S made an early decision that no one from the company would deal directly with the so-called “threat actor”.
“Anybody who’s suffered an event like ours, it would be foolish to say there’s not a thousand things you’d like to have done differently,” he added.
Advice for businesses
In a warning to other businesses, M&S’s general counsel and company secretary Nick Folland said firms should be prepared to operate without IT systems.
“One of the things that we would say to others is make sure you can run your business on pen and paper,” he said.
Awareness and planning for the threats of cybersecurity meant M&S had trebled the number of people working on cybersecurity to 80and doubled its expenditure.
“We curiously doubled our insurance cover last year”, Mr Norman added.
In a good position
The business was better positioned to deal with the strike than at the start of Mr Norman’s tenure, he said.
“The context of M&S is when I joined the business, it was a very broken business… our systems were in a pretty decrepit state.”
“So I have to say if this has happened then I think we would have been kippered.”
Read more:
UK to miss deadline to agree steel and aluminium tariffs
Flavour of what’s to come as first Post Office inquiry lays bare heart-breaking legacy
Recent profits meant the company was “muscled up”.
“Extensive” insurance cover means M&S expects to make an “unsurprisingly significant claim” and receive “substantial recovery”, though the process of finding out how much will take about 18 months.
The £300m sum M&S said it expected to lose as a result of the cyber attack does not include money it expects to claim via insurance. The financial hit was calculated at £300m as the chain department store was losing £10m a week by not operating online.
The incident has “not really” affected its future, Mr Norman said.
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