The next United Kingdom general election is set to be held on Thursday 2 May 2024, under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. This general election will be organized provisionally using the same voting system as the 2019 (first-past-the-post) election.
In its manifesto, the Conservative Party, which gained a majority at the 2019 general election, contained pledges to abolish the 15-year limit on voting for British nationals living outside and to introduce a provision for voter registration in Great Britain.
Boundary Review
Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith announced in March 2020 that the 2021 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, focused on the retention of 650 seats, will begin. With the current applicable laws improved by the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill 2019-21, the 2021 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies will commence in 2021.
The delayed Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies suggested a decrease from 650 to 600 in the number of constituencies. Each of the United Kingdom's four parliamentary Boundary Commissions resumed their review process in April 2016.
Boundary modifications can not be implemented until both Houses of Parliament have approved them. During the 2017–2019 Parliament, no amendments were submitted by the government. The majority Conservative government proclamation states that before the next general election, this will be introduced.
Date of the election
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) proposed fixed-term parliaments in the United Kingdom, with elections set to hold on the first Thursday of May in the fifth year after the preceding general election, unless the preceding general election took place between 1 January and the first Thursday of May, with elections scheduled to take place on the first Thursday of May in the fourth year after the preceding general election.
The act allows the early dissolution of the House of Commons votes by a two-thirds supermajority, eliminating the power of the monarch, on the advice of the prime minister, to break parliament before its five-year maximum duration. Parliament is therefore dissolved if, by a mild majority, a government loses a vote of no confidence and a new government is not formed within 14 days. Alternatively, to set an earlier election date in law, which is how the date of the preceding general election was set in 2019, a bill requiring only a mild majority in both houses could be introduced.
Fixed-term Parliaments Act’s Proposed repeal
The party's proclamation included a pledge to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act at the 2019 general election, where the Conservatives gained a majority of 80 seats, owing to paralysis at a time when emphatic action was required by the country. The pledge was established after the election in the first Queen's Speech. However, as the FTPA abolished existing laws in regards to limited-term parliaments, it would be appropriate to enact more laws to decide how long parliaments should last.
General Election 2019
The United Kingdom's general election of 2019 took place on 12 December 2019. Having failed to win a majority in the 2017 general election, the Conservative Party faced a protracted parliamentary deadlock over Brexit whilst ruling a minority with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a condition that prompted the resignation of Theresa May, the former Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson was elected as Conservative leader in July 2019, following May's resignation, and confirmed as Prime Minister. At the end of October, Johnson was unable to persuade Parliament to accept an improved withdrawal agreement and decided to call for a snap election. The Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019 was approved by 438-20 through the House of Commons, setting the election date for 12 December. Throughout the campaign, opinion polls up to polling day described a firm lead for the Conservatives against Labour.
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