Next United Kingdom general election

The next United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held no later than Wednesday 15 August 2029. It will determine the composition of the House of Commons, which determines the government of the United Kingdom.

Background
The 2024 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, similar to that achieved by Tony Blair at the 1997 general election, the previous time a Labour opposition ousted a Conservative government. The previously governing Conservative Party under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lost 251 seats and suffered their worst ever defeat, ending their 14-year tenure as the primary governing party. The combined vote share for Labour and the Conservatives reached a record low, with smaller parties doing well. The Liberal Democrats made significant gains to reach their highest ever number of seats. Reform UK placed third in the share of the vote in the 2024 election and had MPs elected to the Commons for the first time. The Green Party of England and Wales also won a record number of seats alongside a number of independent MPs. The Scottish National Party (SNP) lost around three quarters of its seats. Labour returned to being the largest party in Scotland and remained so in Wales. The Conservatives won no seats in Wales and only one seat in North East England.

Voting eligibility
In order to vote in the general election, barring any changes in eligibility rules, one must be:


 * on the Electoral Register,
 * aged 18 or over on polling day,
 * a British citizen, a Commonwealth citizen (with leave to remain or not requiring it) or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland,
 * a resident at an address in the United Kingdom (or a British citizen living abroad), and
 * not legally excluded from voting (for example a convicted person detained in prison or a mental hospital, or unlawfully at large if they would otherwise have been detained, or a person found guilty of certain corrupt or illegal practices, or a sitting Member of the House of Lords)

Individuals must be registered to vote by midnight twelve working days before polling day. Anyone who qualifies as an anonymous elector has approximately five working days before polling day to register. A person who has two homes (such as a university student who has a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) may be able to register to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area, but can only vote in one constituency at the general election.

Date of the election
Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the prime minister has the power to request the monarch call an election at any time during the five-year length of a parliamentary session. If the prime minister chooses not to do this, then parliament is automatically dissolved 5 years after the day it first met, and a general election is held 25 working days after dissolution. The 2024 parliament first met on 9 July 2024, meaning that if an election isn't called, parliament will be automatically dissolved on 9 July 2029, and the latest an election could be held is 15 August 2029.

Opinion polling
Opinion polling for the next United Kingdom general election is being carried out continually by various organisations to gauge voting intention. Most of the polling companies listed are members of the British Polling Council (BPC) and abide by its disclosure rules. The dates for these opinion polls range from the 2024 general election on 4 July to the present day.

Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022, the next general election must be held no later than Wednesday 15 August 2029. The Act mandates that, if it has not already been dissolved at the request of the prime minister, Parliament automatically dissolves five years after it first met and polling day occurs no more than 25 working days later.