Understanding the general election: Postal votes to party promises – your ultimate guide

Published

1 month ago

May 25, 2024

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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.

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

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:

Listen to Sky News on TuneIn, and here.

UK

Election 2024: I spent a week travelling on night buses to see a view of the UK politicians don’t

Published

18 mins ago

June 26, 2024

admin

Election 2024: I spent a week travelling on night buses to see a view of the UK politicians don't

There is a rhythm to a night at the Bolton Interchange.

People dart from arriving buses, racing across the concourse to catch departing ones. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Each rush is followed by a brief lull.

Every night, hundreds of lives intersect at the Bolton Interchange. The night-shift workers and commuters, those out on the town and those just a little bit lost.

Each one has their own story, some are happy to chat, most lose themselves in whatever is playing through their headphones.

I spent a week on the night buses. With the election looming, what the politicians are experiencing on their campaign battle buses is not what ordinary people are seeing. Theirs is a very different perspective.

There is an unmistakeable despair about the state of the country, an indifference to what the political process might do about it and a dark humour about the future. There are very few flickers of optimism.

From the bus-spotter who says the country needs “a good clean”, to those who yearn for a Britain of a different age, to Pete, the elderly bluegrass guitarist heading for an open-mic night.

What does he think of Britain today? “Me and 50 mates are going to go to Lake Windermere to take a s*** in the water. We’ll see if they do anything to stop us, because they don’t seem to be stopping the water companies.”

It is just one of the many raw expressions of the frustration and hopelessness that I hear. As Carl, the night supervisor at the interchange, says: “Late shifts are different here. It is a real eye-opener.”

‘Vote? I just can’t be bothered’

With her shock of white hair and ankle-length peach quilted coat, Sophia Talbot is hard to miss as she jogs across the interchange concourse. She turned 80 a few weeks ago but is still working full-time. She is taking the 125 bus home after completing filming in Bolton as an extra on the TV drama, Waterloo Road.

Sophia: The country is a mess. When I first came to Bolton 21 years ago it was a really nice place and now it’s all run down and boarded up and I think that speaks for everywhere.

Every time I go to the supermarket, I seem to get less for my money. I can drive but I can’t afford a car so that’s why I take the bus.

I do the extras work for a bit of extra money. Extra extra money, I call it.

I don’t think I’ll last long enough to see things in this country change for the better. It will take a long time for that to happen because it has gone down too far.

I probably won’t even vote. I didn’t last time or the time before if I remember right. I just can’t be bothered, and I know that’s not good because if you don’t do it, you can’t blame anybody but yourself, can you?

‘I’m treated as third class, common muck’

It is just after 8pm, still light on this early summer evening, and Janey Fairhurst is passing through the interchange on her way from Bury to Wigan, after spending the day with a bereaved friend. She lost her job in medical research in November and, after 10 interviews, is still searching for work.

Janey: My life is drastically different to what it was. There are just not enough jobs. There are jobs down South but I feel the North gets forgotten about quite a lot when it comes to politics. Maybe they need to remember that we started the industrial revolution and they wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that so maybe give the North some more funding and more jobs.

The empire is over, Britain has just crumbled, it has been going in the wrong direction for a long time and there’s no trust between the people and the politicians.

When I was in work I felt like I was winning. I could buy the Tropicana instead of Tesco’s own brand orange juice. You don’t really think about the politics of it all when you’ve got the money.

Now, I feel like I’m treated as third class, common muck and I’m not. I come from a good family. I feel frustrated, angry, sad, belittled, in a way – judged. I worked so hard to get where I was and now I can’t get back into it.

‘The cost of living has put a lot on people’

Three buses in the morning and three more in the evening are the routine of Saila Shabir’s working life. From her home in Great Lever to her job in Manchester, she says her time spent travelling has given her perspective on the value of community and the state of the country.

Saila: I think it wouldn’t do any harm for everyone to get on the night bus and experience life from this side of things. It might not be their cup of tea but it is a way to understand what people are saying and doing.

I find it uplifting travelling on the bus in the evening because you get to see people from all sorts of backgrounds. It is amazing, really, and it opens your mind that there’s huge prospects and a really expansive community that we could all bring together under one roof.

I’m not going to say I’m despairing but the cost of living has put a lot on people. People need to work together, we can’t just rely on one set of people to do it all. I am hopeful because I do trust the right people will do the job properly. I do see the darker side of life on the buses sometimes but you need the dark to see the light.

‘I have never known this country in such a state’

From his blue suede boots to his embroidered collar, Rick Conlon is dressed for a night on the town. It is 11pm and he is making his way home to Rochdale. At 6ft4in with a shaved head, it’s easy to see why he’s well known in local boxing circles. He is jovial despite despairing of Britain today.

Rick: I’m 58 and I’m not political particularly but I have never known this country in such a state. I just think it’s really tough at the moment. I know inflation has come down but there’s a lot of people far worse off than me struggling for food and the basic necessities.

We’re the fifth-richest country in the world, I find it incredible. When I was 16, 17, 18, in Margaret Thatcher’s time, 1981 and 1982, with all that political and social unrest, the country was still a better country. We had massive unemployment but the country was still a better country. People were looked after.

There’s that old saying about how you can judge a country by how it looks after its elderly. It’s just ridiculous how little they’re paid and how little they’re thought of.

If there’s one thing that makes me optimistic, bus fares make me optimistic. Two pounds – you can’t argue with that. Even then they’re probably subsidised but that’s great, because this is a great country, it’s just the government letting us down.

‘If it was up to me, I’d move country’

Muj Malik is travelling home with his partner Tabitha and five-month-old son, Zair, after another exhausting day searching for a new family home. They have faced months of frustration on growing council house waiting lists and, they say, see countless videos on TikTok from other young families in the same situation.

Muj: Things are not good in this country. My grandma moved here from Pakistan and my mum was born here so I’m third generation but, if it was up to me, I’d move country. I don’t want to live here for the rest of my life. I don’t see the point because the country is just going sideways.

At the end of the day, I’ve got a mixed-race baby, I grew up in a predominantly white area. I like the country and the people and I know there are people far worse off than us. But you’ve got war veterans from this country, people who have gone to war for this country, they’ve put their lives on the line, they’ve lost friends, and you’ve got them sitting outside of Asda homeless with no help whatsoever.

This country is fading miserably. I like the people, it’s not about the people, it’s about the way the country is run.

UK

First Universal theme park in Europe to generate ‘£50bn of economic benefits for UK’

Published

18 mins ago

June 26, 2024

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First Universal theme park in Europe to generate '£50bn of economic benefits for UK'

New details have been unveiled for Universal’s first UK theme park – including plans for the attraction to be open 365 days a year.

Universal Destinations & Experiences – which is owned by Sky’s parent company Comcast – has bought land near Bedford as it plans to build Europe’s largest theme park with millions of visitors per year, as well as a 500-room hotel and dining area.

Economic benefits

Universal’s economic impact analysis, produced in line with HM Treasury guidelines on economic appraisal and published today suggests the attraction will generate nearly £50bn of economic benefits for the UK.

It said the net economic contribution of the potential project for the UK was forecast to be £35.1bn over the construction period and first 20 years of operation.

Up to a further £14.1bn was expected to be generated in extra taxes for the exchequer over the same period.

The analysis suggests the project will generate 20,000 jobs during the construction period which, at its peak, will see 5,000 workers on the site.

Once operational, it is expected to create an initial 8,000 new jobs, rising over time. The company has made a commitment to pay the living wage to employees.

‘The best location we’ve ever seen’

Universal has acquired almost 500 acres for the site, which is just south of Bedford between Kempston, Wootton, Stewartby and Wixams, with an option to buy up to a further 200 acres.

The new park, which would have a construction period of around six years, would be built on land once occupied by Kempston Hardwick brickworks, once the world’s largest brickworks in terms of output, which closed in 2008 and which was demolished in September 2021.

“I can tell you it’s going to be a world-class park with all experiences that people will love based upon the most popular films, video games and stories that people have enjoyed for decades,” said Page Thompson, the company’s president in charge of new ventures.

“We’ve spent the last decade looking all over Europe and the United Kingdom for locations, and we think this is the best location we’ve ever seen.”

Universal Destinations & Experiences currently has five theme parks around the world – in the United States, Japan, China and Singapore.

Disneyland Paris, which with the associated Walt Disney Studios Park is currently Europe’s biggest theme park, attracts around 15 million visitors per year.

New details

“Our phase one plans consist of a theme park, a 500-room hotel and a dining area that people can come to even if they don’t have a theme park ticket,” Mr Thompson told Sky News.

“Over time, I would expect the number of hotels to grow.

“Our intention is that this park would be open 365 days a year, just like all of our other major theme parks.

“We have a whole series of special events, like our Halloween Horror Nights and carnival parties… and it just allows us to attract people throughout this time.”

Universal said evidence from its other theme parks suggested that for every job supported within the parks at least 1.5 further jobs could be supported in the supply chain and neighbouring parts of the economy – leading to its expectation of a net additional 20,000 jobs.

Plenty of competition

The investment is not without risks and not least because of its scale.

Of Europe’s 20 most visited theme parks, four – Legoland Windsor, Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park – are in the UK, all owned by the former FTSE-100 giant Merlin Entertainments. Their combined visitor numbers annually come to around half of what Universal is targeting.

There is also plenty of competition.

Locally, not far from the proposed Bedfordshire site is the Harry Potter Experience at the Warner Bros studio tour near Watford, while there is Woburn Safari Park to the immediate north and Whipsnade Zoo to the immediate west of Luton.

There is no shortage of quality options for family days out. Further afield Europe already has more than 1,000 theme and amusement parks, many of them owned by Merlin, renowned for its astute management.

The weather issue

A third factor, potentially, is the weather. This is something that already handicaps a lot of theme parks in northern Europe, such as Liseberg in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, the Tivoli Gardens in the Danish capital Copenhagen and the original Legoland, in the Danish city of Billund, which close for some or all of the winter. So does Phantasialand, one of Germany’s biggest and most popular attractions.

Universal Destinations & Experiences, however, is thought to be undeterred by the English weather and points to the fact that the weather is not always perfect in other parts of the world in which it operates, most notably China and Japan.

The Paris experience

The company also appears undeterred by the experience of Disney in Paris.

The original Euro Disney was loss-making for many years – partly due to mismanagement and partly due to a misunderstanding of what European and particularly French consumers were looking for – and it has only really been since it was fully consumed by the Walt Disney Company, in 2017, that it has been effectively run.

Transport challenges

Another big risk is the transport links. Universal Destinations & Experiences – the name was changed last year from Universal Parks & Resorts to better reflect the kind of services customers will be offered in future in both the physical and virtual worlds – has selected the site primarily for its rail and road links to London and, with one in three visitors expected to come from overseas, for its proximity to Luton Airport.

Yet those links are not currently up to handling the kind of visitor numbers Universal Destinations & Experiences is expecting.

The M1, the main road link to London, is frequently congested around the Luton turn-off at junction 10 and the road links from there to the site in need of improvement.

Accordingly, Universal Destinations & Experiences will be seeking government incentives to invest in local road and rail links.

Support could also come from East West Rail, the proposed new main line railway connecting East Anglia and South Wales, the first phase of which is a line between Oxford and Cambridge and for which a new station at Kempston Hardwick – whose existing station backs onto the land the park would operate – has been proposed.

The planning process

Riskiest of all, perhaps, is the planning process. Local businesses and MPs are supportive while both Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor and Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, have been briefed on the project. Planning proposals have been submitted and Universal Destinations & Experiences has held talks with Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Councils.

However, Mr Thompson confirmed that Universal Destinations & Experiences is seeking planning permission via a so-called special development order – which would take the decision out of the hands of the local authorities and instead leave the final decision on planning consent with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

A roll of the dice

So this is a big roll of the dice by Universal Destinations & Experiences.

The investment – the first phase of which will be several billion pounds – will take many years to pay off while thrill-seekers should probably not expect the resort to be up and running much before the end of the decade.

However, starting with a blank sheet of paper as it opens its first European venue, Universal Destinations & Experiences has the opportunity to bring something genuinely new not just to the UK but to Europe.

The name change made by the business last year reflects the fact that, in future, the business expects to be offering branded entertainment, culinary, gaming and consumer product experiences that go a lot further than the traditional theme park and resort offerings.

There could even be experiences at the resort which have yet to be conceived. It could be quite the ride.

UK

Man arrested over unsolicited messages sent to MPs and others in Westminster honey trap scandal

Published

1 hour ago

June 26, 2024

admin

Man arrested over unsolicited messages sent to MPs and others in Westminster honey trap scandal

A man has been arrested as part of the police investigation into the Westminster honeytrap scandal.

The Metropolitan Police said they arrested a man in Islington, north London, on Wednesday morning on suspicion of harassment and offences under the Online Safety Act.

Multiple victims were informed by the police shortly afterwards.

Earlier this year, several men, working mostly in politics, said they had received unsolicited, flirtatious WhatsApp messages from people calling themselves “Charlie” or “Abi”.

Explicit images were exchanged in some instances.

A Met Police spokesman said: “On Wednesday, 26 June, police executed a warrant at an address in Islington.

“A man was arrested on suspicion of harassment and committing offences under the Online Safety Act. He was taken into custody where he remains.

“The arrest relates to an investigation being carried out by the Met’s Parliamentary Liaison and Investigation Team following reports of unsolicited messages sent to MPs and others.

“The investigation remains ongoing.”

William Wragg stepped down from the Conservative Party when the scandal erupted in April after sharing other politicians’ personal numbers to someone he met on a dating app who threatened to release compromising information and pictures he had sent them.

Conservative Dr Luke Evans also revealed he was approached in March by two different numbers on WhatsApp “who purported to know me”.

He said he was the victim of cyber flashing and malicious communications “and blew the whistle by reporting it to the police and the parliamentary authorities as soon as this happened”.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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