UK General Election 2024 Timeline
Timeline To The General Election and Beyond
With His Majesty the King granting Prime Minister Sunak’s request to dissolve Parliament and hold an election on 4th July, the starting gun has been fired for all sorts of events. Here is what we know so far.
Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission has published its timeline here which is in line with the standing generic timeline it has published for holding an election.
Key dates from that for voters:
| Action | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Deadline for registering to vote | 23.59 Tuesday 18 June |
| Deadline for applying for a postal vote | 17.00 Wednesday 19 June |
| Deadline for applying for a proxy vote | 17.00 Wednesday 26 June |
| Deadline for applying for a Voter Authority Certificate | 17.00 Wednesday 26 June |
| Polling day | 07.00 – 22.00 Thursday 4 July |
The full detail of their timetable is here
One key date for candidates is that they must have registered by 4pm on 7th June. The list of candidates in each constituency will be published at 5pm that day, so we wont know exactly who is standing where until then.
Parliament
All we know so far is that Parliament will be dissolved on Thursday 30th May with the prorogation ceremony sometime that day in the House of Lords. The government has to complete all of the business it can by then, finishing off some bills that it wants to (or which must) go through. That list is not yet known.
The Commons is expected to only sit until Friday 24th May with prorogation that day. This is where the Commons is summoned by Black Rod to join His Majesty’s Commissioners (in reality 3 members of the Lords picked for this for the day, albeit to bring a message from the King) in the House of Lords.
Although neither chamber is sitting, this session of Parliament isn’t dissolved until the 30th May. As of that day, we cease to have any MPs. Government ministers carry on in office in parallel with the election, but with much more limited powers. So if a major event happens in this period, there is no parliament to recall.
The House of Commons seems set to meet on Tuesday 9th July, though for the first few days its usually just MPs being sworn in. And MPs need to do this before they can do things like speak or vote in the Commons.
Next will be the State Opening of Parliament by the King, already announced to be on Wednesday 17th July. Whether its a full carriage procession or a simple car journey remains to be seen, tho I’d expect the full carriage ride for his first opening after an election.