General Election 2024: What happens next?

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, is likely to run unopposed in his constituency on July 4th. Photo: WPA Pool/Getty Images < p>Parliament was suspended on Friday and dissolved this week after Rishi Sunak called a general election for July 4.

The Prime Minister addressed the King in last Wednesday afternoon asking for the dissolution of Parliament, which was approved by the monarch.

The decision on when to call a general election was left entirely to Mr Sunak after the repeal of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.

This would give him the ability to trigger a national vote at any time before January 2025. His choice of election date means that by election day he will have been number 10 for 618 days.

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There was a suspension on May 24, followed by dissolution on May 30.

This is in line with the Law on the Dissolution and Convocation of Parliament, which was adopted in 2022 and means that voting day will take place 25 working days after the dissolution of Parliament.< /p>

This means that the laundering process that occurs between Mr Sunak calling the election and suspending the election lasted only a few days.

The laundering involved deals made between party leaders about whom bills were approved and the law was repealed.

With the agreement of both major political parties, the Victims and Prisoners Bill was introduced, which established a process for compensating victims of the tainted blood scandal following the damning report.

Among the bills that were not introduced before the election was the Tobacco and Vaping Bill , which increased the smoking age by one year annually and also banned disposable vapes.

All parliamentary business not completed at the time of dissolution fell, including bills that had not yet received royal assent.

Parliament is now dissolved, all 650 seats in the House of Commons will become vacant, meaning there are no more MPs.

This includes the seat held by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House of Commons, albeit by convention. dictates that he will stand for re-election unopposed.

Although they can no longer serve as MPs, government ministers will remain in their posts and continue to lead their departments. They will not be replaced until after an election.

Each party decides when to publish its manifesto, but analysis by the Institute for Government shows that all Labor and Conservative manifestos since 1997 have been released in 18–29 days before the elections.

From May From 30, the civil service will introduce «purdah», which will include strict restrictions on the work of officials to ensure that Whitehall resources are not used in the interests of any particular party.

Normally, voter registration is carried out is open until the 12th business day before Election Day, indicating it will close towards the end of June.