It’s been one of the most anticipated and commented on political dates for decades but on Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised everyone by calling a snap General Election with Election Day coming on 4 July.
A lot has happened since the last General Election in 2019. That was the Brexit election and Boris Johnson was returned as prime minister with an 80-seat majority.
Since then, we have seen no less than three prime ministers – one of them the shortest serving in history – war in Ukraine, a global pandemic, and the death of this country’s longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Whichever way you cut it, the 2024 General Election is going to be a big one and, if the polls are to be believed, we will end up with a Labour government and the first Labour leader elected since Tony Blair’s third term in 2005.
But before we get to that point, there are all kinds of deadlines, notices, requirements, procedures and places to attend that will have to be navigated. They can be baffling and so here is a quick-and-simple guide to what happens now and what you need to do to enter your vote.
What do you need to do to vote?
If you live in the Putney constituency but are not yet registered to vote, you need to do so before the end of the day on Tuesday 18 June. You can do that at this link. It’s quick and easy.
Closer to the election, you’ll get a polling card in the post with all the details, including where your polling station is when it opens and closes etc. You should take that card with you when you physically go to the polling station but also don’t forget your ID.
The Conservative government passed a law in 2022 that requires everyone to have a form of ID to vote – this will be the first General Election where that’s in force. So don’t forget it. You can find what forms of ID are allowed here. If you don’t have one of them, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate – which you should do as soon as possible.
What if I’m on holiday?
Because the election is in the middle of summer, a lot of people are expected to be away on Election Day (you mean you didn’t cancel your holiday as soon as you heard about the election?). The best solution is going to be applying for a postal vote – and then sending it in before you go on holiday.
The postal vote registration deadline is Wednesday 19 June. You can click here to apply for a postal vote. Or you could ask someone else to vote for you – a proxy vote. Click here to apply for a proxy vote.
Where do I go to vote?
Putney as a constituency is made up of seven wards: East Putney, West Putney, Roehampton, Southfields, Thamesfield, West Hill and Wandsworth Town. Each one of these is broken up in polling districts. Southfields has just three; Roehampton has 6.
Depending on which polling district you live in, you’ll be sent to that area’s polling station. It will probably be the one you went to last time but not necessarily, so you need to check, or you’ll have a longer walk than you expected. Usually it’s the biggest church in your area. Or the nearest leisure centre.
There isn’t a definitive list yet, it may change. So the best thing to do is wait until closer to Election Day and check the Where Do I Vote website. It will also be printed on your polling card that comes in the post.
Wasn’t there something about Wandsworth now being in Putney?
Yes, the boundaries of the Putney constituency have changed. Everything is the same as in 2019 but with one big change: Wandsworth Town is now no longer in Battersea but in Putney.
It won’t affect how you vote, or probably where you vote, if you live in Wandsworth Town but it will mean that you’ll have a completely different MP, possibly from a different party, on 4 July.
And what has happened / will happen in Parliament?
So on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister decided to call an election, and visited the King first to ask him to “prorogue” Parliament.
In one of the weird parts of our system: the prime minister physically travelled to the King and felt obliged to ask his permission to shut Parliament down even while both of them recognise that the King is in no position to refuse.
Just two days after the Wednesday announcement, on Friday, Parliament was effectively shut down. This caused a mad rush of activity in between as laws that had been progressing through the system were either ditched or rushed through in a process call “wash up”. There’s a whole report on wash-up if you’re interested.
That process led to some unhappy compromises as some laws were passed without important changes, and others were lost until, possibly, the next Parliament.
That’s not the end of it though: Parliament will be officially shut down on Thursday 30 May following a “dissolution proclamation” that also comes from the King following a meeting of his Privy Council where, again, he has no choice but to approve.
We actually got rid of this process when the Liberal Democrats changed the law during the Coalition years. The new law was made to ensure elections happened on a schedule every five years, rather than at the prime minister’s whim.
But Boris Johnson ditched the law in 2022 during the Brexit battles and now we again have unexpected snap elections like the one called this week.
When it is formally shut down, all 650 Members of Parliament will cease to exist until they are elected by the public on 4 July. Around 120 current MPs have said they won’t stand again so this election will see a big shake-up even before voting opens.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the elections, how they work, the arcanery of our system, or pure practical queries, let us know by leaving a comment.
