General election
General elections (elections to the UK Parliament) usually take place every 5 years.
To vote in a general election you must:
- be registered to vote
- be 18 or over on the day of the election, also known as polling day
- be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen
- be resident at an address in the UK (or a British citizen living abroad who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years and not legally excluded from voting)
There are 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK Parliament.
MPs are elected using the First Past the Post system. You vote once for a candidate in your constituency and the candidate with the most votes becomes your MP.
How to register to vote
You need your National Insurance number to register to vote online, it only takes 5 minutes.
You can apply to vote by post if you don’t want to vote in person at a polling station.
You don’t need to register to vote before every election.
If you move house, you should register to vote again.
If you change your name for any reason, you can either, contact the electoral services team at your local council and request a change of name form register to vote again.
Photo ID you can use to vote in person
You need to show photo ID when voting in person in some elections.
You can use any of the following types of photo ID:
- Passport
- Driving licence (including provisional license)
- Blue badge
- Certain concessionary travel cards
- Identity card with PASS mark (Proof of Age Standards Scheme)
- Biometric Immigration document
- Defence identity card
- Certain national identity cards
If you don’t have an accepted form photo ID
If you don’t have an accepted form of photo ID, or you’re not sure whether your photo ID still looks like you, you can apply for a free voter ID document, known as a Voter Authority Certificate.
Find your polling station using your postcode.
Local government election
Local government elections take place at least every 4 years. Not all local government elections take place at the same time.
Your local government will do one of the following:
- elect all the local councillors every 4 years
- elect half the local councillors every 2 years
- elect one third of the local councillors every year for 3 years and hold no elections in the 4th year
To vote in a local government election you must:
- be registered to vote
- be 18 or over on the day of the election orpolling day (in Scotland and Wales you must be over 16)
- be registered at an address in the area you want to vote in
- not be legally excluded from voting
You must also be one of the following:
- a British citizen
- an Irish or EU citizen
- a qualifying Commonwealth citizen
- a citizen of another country living in Scotland or Wales who has permission to enter or stay in the U
Local government councillors in England and Wales are elected using the First Past the Post system. The ballot paper will tell you the number of candidates you can vote for.
In Scotland and Northern Ireland, councillors are elected using the Single Transferable Vote system. You rank the candidates in order of preference.
When you can vote in more than one local election
If you live in 2 different local authority areas (for example because you’re a student), you may be able to vote in both areas.
You must register to vote in both areas. The local Electoral Registration Offices will check each application and tell you if you can register in both areas.
Police and Crime Commissioner election
There are 41 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales who are elected to make sure the police are run properly. There is no elected PCC for London.
To vote in a PCC election you must:
- be registered to vote
- be 18 or over on the day of the election or polling day
- be a British, Irish, qualifying Commonwealth or EU citizen
- be resident at an address in England or Wales (excluding London)
- not be legally excluded from voting
PCCs are elected using the Supplementary Vote system. You make a first and second choice when you vote.
If no candidate gets more than 50% of the first choice votes, all except the top 2 candidates are eliminated. If your first choice candidate is eliminated, and your second choice is for one of the top 2, your second choice is counted.