UK general elections on 4 July: How does the country hold polls? What are the big issues at stake?

It’s the year of elections. On 4 July, the United Kingdom will hold the general elections. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outside Downing Street on Tuesday.

This is the first election in the country in five years and it poses a grave challenge for the ruling Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010. The centre-right party, which took power, during the global financial crisis, have won two more elections since then. But in the past 14 years, they have faced challenges and controversies galore.

The Tories, as they are commonly known, are up against Labour, which is a left-leaning party. They too have a task at hand – to shake off a reputation for irresponsible spending and prove that it has a plan to govern.

The next six weeks will see a heated battle. We tell you what to expect.

Why has Rishi Sunak called a general election now?

On a rain-soaked Tuesday, the UK prime minister called a snap general election on 4 July , months ahead of when it was expected. He had until December to hold the polls; they could have happened as late as 28 January 2025.

Now, the elections will be held in just inside the second half of the year as Sunak had earlier promised.

Sunak, in a Downing Street statement made in driving rain after he gathered his top ministers, said he had spoken to the head of state, King Charles III, and requested the dissolution of parliament. “The king has granted this request and we will have a general election on 4 July,” he said, adding, “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future.”

The timing of the election is determined by the PM’s calculation of the date most advantageous to the ruling Conservatives. It had been expected in the autumn when several economic factors were likely to have improved their chances, the Institute for Government, a London-based think tank, had said. But favourable economic news on Wednesday, with inflation down to 2.3 per cent, changed the narrative, reports The Associated Press (AP).

The country’s economic outlook is looking brighter.

According to the BBC, there is also a Rwanda asylum plan . “It hasn’t happened yet but it would appear flights could be imminent, perhaps even during the election campaign, although the claim that it will act as a deterrent will not be tested before polling day,” the report says.

How does voting work in the United Kingdom?

People throughout the UK will choose all 650 members of the House of Commons for a term of up to five years. The party that commands a majority in the Commons, either alone or in coalition, will form the next government and its leader will be the prime minister.

That means the results will determine the political direction of the government, which the Conservatives have led for 14 years. However, its popularity is on the wane. Opinion polls suggest that Labour is currently in the strongest position.
Who is running in the United Kingdom?

Sunak, a former treasury chief who has been PM since October 2022, is expected to lead his party into the election. His biggest opponent will be Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions in England and leader of the Labour Party since April 2020.

There are other parties in the fray, which have strong regional support. They could play a key role in forming a coalition government if none of the two big parties garner an overall majority.

The Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence, the Liberal Democrats, and the Democratic Unionist Party, which seeks to maintain ties between Britain and Northern Ireland, are currently the three largest parties in Parliament after the Conservatives and Labour. Many observers suggest the new Reform Party, formed by Tory rebels, may siphon votes from the Conservatives.

What did Starmer say about elections being called?

After Sunak’s announcement, Starmer said “his party wants to return to Britain to the service of the working people”. He insisted that Labour would put “country first and party second” and that the general election was about the “opportunity to change”.

He outlined three themes during his statement which were “stop the chaos”, “time for change” and “reset the economy and our politics”. “The future of the country is in your hands… Together we can stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild Britain and change our country,” Starmer said, according to the BBC.

What are the issues that matter in the United Kingdom?

The economy: Britain has struggled with high inflation and slow economic growth, which have combined to make most people feel poorer. The Conservatives succeeded in meeting their goal of halving inflation, which peaked at 11.1 per cent in October 2022, but the economy slipped into a technical recession in the last six months of 2023, raising questions about the government’s economic policies.

Immigration: Thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have crossed the English Channel in flimsy inflatable boats in recent years, leading to criticism that the government has lost control of Britain’s borders. The Conservatives’ signature policy for stopping the boats is a plan to deport some of these migrants to Rwanda. Critics say the plan violates international law, is inhumane, and will do nothing to stop people fleeing war, unrest and famine.

Healthcare: Britain’s National Health Service, which provides free health care to everyone, is plagued with long waiting lists for everything from dental care to cancer treatment. Newspapers are filled with stories about seriously ill patients forced to wait hours for an ambulance, then longer still for a hospital bed.

The environment: PM Sunak has backtracked on a series of environmental commitments, pushing back the deadline for ending the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles and authorising new oil drilling in the North Sea. Critics say these are the wrong policies when the world is trying to combat climate change.

What will we see in the coming days?

The next few weeks are crucial. Sunak, Starmer, Lim Dem leader Ed Davey, Reform Party leader Richard Tice and other prominent names will campaign across the country, convincing the public that they will be the apt choice to lead the country over the next four years. They will hold political rallies and give speeches.

All parties will publish their manifesto, which throws light on their policies, around three to four weeks before polling. There will be TV debates and Sunak and Starmer are expected to go head to head, according to a report in the Guardian.

When will the results be announced?

On 4 July, polls will open at 7 am and close at 10 pm, after which exit polls will be announced, predicting the possible outcome. The results from various constituencies will start coming in. By the next morning, there is expected to be clarity on the winner.

With inputs from agencies