Elections, political parties and local government

Who can vote and how to get on the register

To vote in a UK election, your name must appear on the electoral register, the official list of everyone entitled to vote in a given area. Registering is separate from the right to vote itself: even a citizen who qualifies will not receive a ballot unless they have registered in advance. You can register online through GOV.UK, and doing so takes only a few minutes if you have your National Insurance number to hand. Each local council, through its electoral registration office, keeps the register for its own area and checks the details every year, usually contacting households from the summer onwards to confirm who still lives there and who else should be added.

Eligibility depends on age, nationality and residence, and the rules are no longer identical across the UK. British, Irish and eligible Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK can register for all elections. Citizens of most other EU countries lost the general right to register or vote in England and Northern Ireland from May 2024, though citizens of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain kept that right under bilateral agreements, as did EU citizens who were already living in the UK before the end of 2020. Scotland and Wales have gone the other way: any foreign national legally resident there, not just those from the EU, can register for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and local councils in those two nations.

The voting age itself now varies by nation and by type of election. It remains 18 for UK general elections, but Scotland and Wales have lowered it to 16 for their own parliamentary and local elections, and Northern Ireland's government has committed to doing the same, though this is not expected to be in place before its next scheduled elections in 2027.

Someone who cannot get to a polling station can register at the same time to vote by post, with a ballot paper sent to their home address to complete and return, or to vote by proxy, where another registered voter casts the vote on their behalf. A British citizen living abroad can also register as an overseas elector and vote in UK Parliament elections, a right that used to expire after fifteen years abroad but, since January 2024, no longer has any time limit.

The different elections you can vote in

A UK general election chooses the 650 members of the House of Commons, each representing one constituency, and normally happens at least once every five years. Local elections choose the councillors who run council services in your area, and are held on a separate and often more frequent cycle. People in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also vote separately for their own devolved institutions: the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd in Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly, each electing its own members to handle matters devolved to that nation.

Voter identification requirements differ sharply between these elections. Anyone voting in person at a UK Parliament election, including a general election or a by-election, must now show accepted photo identification, such as a passport or driving licence, before receiving a ballot paper. Scotland has not adopted this requirement: voters there do not need photo ID for Scottish Parliament or council elections. Wales has kept the same position for its own Senedd and local elections, where photo ID is likewise not required. Northern Ireland is the exception in the other direction, since voters there have had to prove their identity since 1985 and to show photographic identification since 2003, a rule the newer UK-wide requirement did not change.

Constituencies and the candidates who stand there

The UK is divided into parliamentary constituencies, each electing one MP to the House of Commons. Most UK, Irish and Commonwealth citizens aged 18 or over can stand as a candidate, though members of the armed forces, civil servants and people convicted of certain criminal offences are barred, and a member of the House of Lords cannot stand for the Commons, even though they remain free to seek other public offices. Since May 2024, an EU citizen wanting to stand as a candidate in England or Northern Ireland must either come from Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain, or have been legally resident in the UK before the end of 2020.

During a campaign, candidates and their parties try to win support in the run-up to polling day. Much of this work happens through canvassing, where party members knock on doors or approach people in the street to ask for their support and encourage them to vote for a particular candidate. No one is obliged to say how they intend to vote, whether to a canvasser or anyone else, and the choice made inside the polling booth is private. Parties also distribute leaflets, hold public meetings and use broadcast and print media to make their case, though by law television and radio coverage of the parties must remain balanced between rival viewpoints.

Voting day: polling stations and the secret ballot

Every voter is assigned a polling station, and a poll card sent out before the election tells you where it is and what date to attend. On the day itself the doors open at 7am and stay open until 10pm, giving people a full working day to get there. At the entrance, staff ask for your name and address before handing you a ballot paper, and, where photo ID rules apply, check your identification first.

Voting in the UK is secret. You take your ballot paper to a private booth, mark it there without anyone else watching, and then post it yourself into the sealed ballot box. Staff running the polling station are barred by law from asking who you voted for or passing on that information, and photographing a marked ballot paper inside the polling station is a criminal offence. Nobody, including staff, family members or party workers, has any right to see how you have marked your paper or to instruct you how to vote.

Anyone who cannot get to a polling station in person can arrange to vote another way. A postal vote lets you fill in the ballot paper at home and send it back by post. A proxy vote lets someone you trust cast the vote on your behalf at the polling station, which is useful if you will be away or unable to attend. Both options are arranged in advance through your local electoral registration office.

How first past the post decides the winner

UK general elections use a system called first past the post. In each constituency, every voter marks a cross next to one candidate, and whichever candidate gets the most votes wins that seat and becomes the area's MP. The winner does not need to reach half the votes cast; a simple lead over every other candidate is enough, even if most voters backed someone else. Because there are 650 constituencies, this same contest happens 650 times across the country on election day, and the party that ends up with the most MPs usually forms the government.

This system tends to produce a single party with a working majority in the House of Commons, which is one reason supporters value it: it is simple to understand and normally delivers a clear result. Critics point out that a party's share of seats can look very different from its share of the national vote, since votes for a losing candidate in any one constituency count for nothing towards the overall result. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use different, more proportional systems for their own devolved elections, which tend to reflect vote share more closely.

Between general elections, a seat can fall vacant if the sitting MP dies, resigns or is disqualified, for example after being sentenced to a serious prison term. When this happens, a by-election is held in that single constituency to choose a replacement MP, using the same first past the post method as a general election. By-elections do not affect any other constituency and do not change the government directly, but they are watched closely as a test of public opinion between general elections.

Political parties and standing for office yourself

Political parties are open to new members, and joining one is a straightforward way to back a set of political views and take an active part in democratic life. Parties rely heavily on their members, especially around election time, when volunteers go door to door or hand out leaflets to win support for their candidates, a practice known as canvassing. If a canvasser calls at your home, you are under no obligation to say which way you intend to vote.

Standing for public office is open to most adult citizens of the UK, the Irish Republic or the Commonwealth. You can put yourself forward as a local councillor, as a member of the House of Commons or of one of the devolved legislatures. A few groups are barred from standing, including serving members of the armed forces, civil servants and anyone convicted of certain serious offences. Members of the House of Lords cannot stand for the House of Commons, though they remain free to seek other public offices. Getting involved this way, whether as a party member, a campaigner or a candidate, is one of the most direct routes into the political life of the country.

Councils, councillors and mayors

Below the UK Parliament and the devolved institutions sits local government, run by councils that manage services in a city, town, borough or county. Councils are led by councillors, ordinary residents who stand for election and, if chosen, represent a small patch of the area known as a ward. Local elections are held on a fixed cycle, and anyone who meets the same broad eligibility rules as for other public office can stand as a candidate, usually for a political party, though independents also stand. Once elected, councillors hold regular meetings, sit on committees that oversee particular services such as planning or education, and deal with problems and requests raised by the people who live in their ward.

Most councils choose their leader from among the councillors themselves: the largest party, or a coalition of parties, picks one of its members to act as council leader, similar to how the Prime Minister emerges from the largest party in the Commons. A smaller number of areas instead have a directly elected mayor, chosen by local voters rather than by fellow councillors, who then leads the council in a similar way to a leader but with a personal mandate from the public. Directly elected mayors were first introduced in the Local Government Act 2000, and areas that adopted the system could keep choosing one right through to 2025, though recent legislation has stopped any further councils in England from creating this role. There is also a separate kind of mayor covering a wider region made up of several councils together, called a strategic authority mayor or combined authority mayor, with responsibility for matters such as transport and economic development across the whole area. This regional model is distinct from the ceremonial title of mayor or lord mayor found in many towns and cities, an honorary role with no decision-making power, traditionally held for a year by a serving councillor.

Council services and council tax

Councils are responsible for a wide range of everyday services in their area, including rubbish and recycling collection, road maintenance, libraries, social care for older and disabled people, planning permission, and support for local schools. Larger, upper-tier councils tend to run the bigger services such as social care and education, while smaller district councils often handle things like waste collection and housing, though a growing number of areas now have a single unitary council that does everything.

Councils pay for these services mainly through council tax, a charge on every household based on the value its property would have had on a fixed date many years ago rather than today's market price. Properties in England are sorted into eight bands, from A up to H, according to that historic valuation, and each council sets its own annual charge for each band to raise the money its budget needs. Wales uses a similar system with nine bands, based on a more recent valuation date, while Scotland and Northern Ireland apply their own separate arrangements. Bills can be reduced through discounts and exemptions, for example for a person living alone, and anyone who thinks their property has been placed in the wrong band can challenge it with the valuation body that sets bands, free of charge.

Having your say between elections

Democratic participation does not stop once the ballot box closes. Anyone can write to or meet their local councillor, their MP, or the equivalent devolved representative to raise a concern, ask for help with a problem, or press for a change in policy, and elected representatives generally hold regular surgeries or advice sessions for exactly this purpose. Contacting a representative directly is one of the most effective ways for an individual to be heard between elections, whether the issue is a local pothole or a matter of national law.

Councils and other public bodies also regularly consult the communities they serve before making significant decisions, for example on a new planning development, a change to bus routes, or how to spend part of the local budget. These consultations typically invite residents to respond to proposals in writing, at public meetings or online, and the results feed into the final decision. Taking part, whether by contacting a representative or responding to a consultation, is one of the practical ways a resident can shape decisions that affect their own street or region without waiting for the next election.