Yahoo News What happens next after the General Election? Everything to expect when polls close
The General Election is officially under way, with UK voters heading to the polls to choose their local MP and have their say on which party will lead the country.
Results are set to start being announced from as early as 11.30pm as constituencies declare their count results across the country, with the North East expected to be the first region to declare once again. By Friday morning, voters and politicians will know who has won the most seats and which party will form a government.
Here's what to expect in the coming days after the polls close, according to the PA news agency.
Votes counted
After the polls close at 10pm, the presiding officers at each polling station seal the ballot boxes and deliver them to the local count centre, where votes are verified by checking the number of votes in the ballot box against the paperwork from polling stations before being mixed with postal votes and counted. The North East has been the first region to declare in the most recent General Elections, and this year looks likely to be no different with results possible in Newcastle, Northumberland, Sunderland and North Tyneside before midnight.
Meanwhile, the exit poll, broadcast at 10pm as the polling booths close, offer voters and politicians the first idea of what to expect as the night progresses. Exit polls are conducted throughout election day by asking thousands of people who they voted for at strategically chosen polling stations, and have given a reasonably accurate prediction in recent years.
The day after
By the early hours of Friday, July 5, the vast majority of constituencies will have declared their results, and the country is likely to know which party has won the most seats. What happens next depends on whether one party has earned a majority, which means winning 326 of the 650 seats across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
If no party has a majority, it results in a hung parliament. In that case, the current Prime Minister, in this case Rishi Sunak, remains in power and is given the first chance to form a government – if they cannot form a government which commands the support of the majority of the House of Commons, they must resign to allow the King to invite someone else to try.
A government without a majority can choose to form a coalition with another parties, such as when the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats joined forces under David Cameron and Nick Clegg in 2010. Alternatively, they can lead as a minority government, which the Conservatives did in 2017 with the support of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP); these processes can last several days as negotiations take place.
However, if one party wins a majority of seats, things will move more quickly as the winning party forms the new government and its leader becomes the next Prime Minister. If a new Prime Minister is to be appointed, the current one, in this case Rishi Sunak, will visit King Charles and tender their resignation, before the incoming Prime Minister arrives next and is formally asked by the monarch to form a government.
The Opposition
The Opposition is formed of the second largest party in the House of Commons, determined by number of seats, and the leader of that party becomes Leader of the Opposition. Their role is to scrutinise the work of the government, including asking the most prominent questions during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs), and they appoint a shadow cabinet to match each of the key portfolios.
Prime Minister
Once the Prime Minister is appointed, they will travel to Downing Street, where they can be expected to give a speech outside Downing Street before going into Number 10 to meet the Cabinet Secretary, the most senior Civil Service adviser to the Prime Minister and cabinet.
A number of briefings will follow, covering a diverse range of topics: living arrangements for the new premier and family, the process for appointing ministers, urgent decisions on key policies, as well as security and intelligence information. The Prime Minister writes letters to the commanders of the four nuclear submarines which provide the UK's at-sea deterrent, with instructions for what to do in the event of a nuclear strike that wipes out contact with the UK.
The Prime Minister will also start appointing their cabinet, typically inviting them into Number 10 to offer ministerial roles – anyone offered a position will have to meet with the propriety and ethics team to discuss potential conflicts of interest. This process will continue over several days as more junior ministers, party whips and parliamentary private secretaries, are appointed, and will come interspersed with calls from world leaders, congratulating them on their new position.
Parliament and the King's Speech
Parliament is due to resume on Tuesday, July 9, for the election of the Speaker. If he is re-elected, this will be Sir Peter Bottomley, who has been in the House of Commons continuously since 1975.
All MPs must declare an oath of allegiance to the Crown before they can take part in parliamentary business, a process known as swearing in. Meanwhile, the government will be preparing for the King's Speech, which is scheduled to follow the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday, July 17.
In the King's Speech, which is delivered by Charles but written by the government, policies and proposed legislation for the coming parliamentary session will be revealed. This speech is then debated in the House of Commons for several days, and passing it is the first big test of support for the new government.
The next key test in the Commons for the Prime Minister is the scrutiny they will face at their first Prime Minister's Questions. The hour-long session sees leaders of the other parties and MPs from across the chamber challenge the Prime Minister on a range of topics of interest to the country or specific to their constituencies.
A summer recess for the House of Commons is expected to start in late July. Last year it ran from July 20 to September 4, although the dates for the Commons to sit for the remainder of 2024 will not be announced until the winning party names its Leader of the House, who decides when the business of the parliament is carried out.
Foreign affairs
A couple of international summits are already scheduled for the prime minister's early weeks. A Nato summit in Washington DC between July 9 and 11 is expected to be attended by the Prime Minister and the foreign and defence secretaries, while the Prime Minister will also host the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on July 18, with around 50 European political leaders expected to attend.
