2024 United Kingdom general election

2024 United Kingdom general election

4 July 2024

All 650 seats in the House of Commons. 326 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats Conservative Rishi Sunak 344 Labour Keir Starmer 205 SNP John Swinney 43 Liberal Democrats Ed Davey 15 DUP Gavin Robinson 7 Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald 7 Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth 3 SDLP Colum Eastwood 2 Alba Alex Salmond 2 Green (E&W) Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay 1 Alliance Naomi Long 1 Workers Party George Galloway 1 Reform UK Nigel Farage 1 Independent N/A 17 Speaker Lindsay Hoyle 1 Incumbent Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Conservative

The 2024 United Kingdom general election is scheduled for Thursday, 4 July 2024. It will determine the composition of the House of Commons, which determines the government of the United Kingdom. Significant constituency boundary changes will be in effect – the first such changes since those implemented at the 2010 general election. It will be the first UK general election in which voter identification is required to vote in person in Great Britain. The general election will be the first since the UK's departure from the European Union on 31 January 2020, which was a major issue in the previous election; it will also be the first to take place under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022.

Discussion around the campaign has been focused on the prospect of a change in government, as the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has significant leads in opinion-polling over the governing Conservative Party led by the prime minister Rishi Sunak. Projections four weeks before the vote indicated a landslide victory for Labour that would surpass the one achieved by Tony Blair at the 1997 general election, while comparisons have been made in the media to the 1993 Canadian federal election, due to the prospect of a potential Conservative wipeout.

Background

In July 2019, Boris Johnson was elected to succeed Theresa May as prime minister, following May's resignation after Parliament repeatedly voted against her proposed Brexit deal. The Conservatives had governed since the 2010 general election, initially in coalition with the Liberal Democrats and then alone with a small majority following the 2015 general election. With insufficient parliamentary support for his Brexit plans, Johnson called the 2019 general election, in which the Conservatives won a landslide victory, and Johnson was able to pass the Brexit withdrawal agreement. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson and his government had instituted public health restrictions, including limitations on social interaction, that Johnson and some of his staff were later found to have broken. The resulting political scandal (Partygate), one of many in a string of controversies that characterised Johnson's premiership, severely damaged his personal reputation. The situation escalated with the Chris Pincher scandal in July 2022, and led to a mass resignation of members of his government, culminating when Johnson announced his resignation on 7 July. He resigned as an MP the following year after an investigation into his conduct unanimously found that he had lied to the Commons on numerous occasions.

Liz Truss was elected to succeed Johnson on 5 September, and assumed the premiership the following day. Truss and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced large-scale tax cuts and borrowing in a mini-budget on 23 September, which was widely criticised and – after it rapidly led to financial instability – largely reversed. Following mounting criticism and loss of confidence in her leadership, Truss announced her resignation on 20 October, which made her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Rishi Sunak was elected unopposed to succeed Truss on 24 October and assumed the premiership on the following day, and reversed many of the economic measures Truss had made. During his premiership Sunak has been credited with improving the economy and stabilising national politics following the premierships of his predecessors, although many of his pledges and policy announcements have ultimately been unfulfilled. He has not averted further unpopularity for the Conservatives—who, by the time of Sunak's election, had been in government for 12 years.

The extreme political turmoil resulting from these scandals and government crises has led to the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer having a significant lead in polling over the Conservatives since late 2021, coinciding with the start of the Partygate scandal. Public opinion in favour of a change in government was reflected in the Conservatives' poor performance at the 2022 and 2023 local elections, in which Labour and the Liberal Democrats made gains from Conservatives, often by very wide margins. The parties made further gains in the 2024 local elections, in which both Labour and the Liberal Democrats had a greater number of successful candidates than the Conservatives. Labour became the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002, while the Liberal Democrats finished second for the first time in a local election cycle since 2009. Many by-elections were won by their candidates, and a record number of Conservative MPs did not stand for re-election.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) also changed leader twice during the 2019-2024 parliament, from Nicola Sturgeon (2014–2023) to Humza Yousaf (2023–2024) to John Swinney from 6 May 2024. Sturgeon resigned following heavy criticism for her positions on gender reforms and claimed occupational burnout was the reason for her resignation, while Yousaf resigned amid a government crisis following his termination of a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. Swinney assumed the leadership on 8 May 2024. Keir Starmer won the Labour Party's leadership election, succeeding Jeremy Corbyn. Ed Davey won the Liberal Democrat's leadership election, succeeding Jo Swinson. Jeffrey Donaldson was leader of the DUP from 2021 but resigned on 29 March 2024 after being charged with historical sex offences, and Gavin Robinson succeeded him as leader after winning the DUP leadership election.

Changes to the composition of the House of Commons before the election

This table relates to the composition of the House of Commons after the 2024 UK general election and summarises the changes in party affiliation that took place during the 2024–present Parliament.

Affiliation		Members
		Elected in 2024	Current	Differ­ence
	Labour	411	402	9
	Conservative	121	121
	Liberal Democrats	72	72
	Independent	6	15	9
	SNP	9	9
	Sinn Féin	7	7
	DUP	5	5
	Reform UK	5	5
	Green (E&W)	4	4
	Plaid Cymru	4	4
	SDLP	2	2
	Alliance	1	1
	TUV	1	1
	UUP	1	1
	Speaker	1	1
Vacant		0	0
Total		650	650
Total voting		639	639
Majority of voting		181	165

For full details of changes during the 2024–present Parliament, see By-elections and Defections, suspensions and resignations.

The results of the 2019 general election are given above, alongside the numbers in the House of Commons at dissolution. Seat counts changed through 23 by-elections and a number of defections and suspensions of members from their party that took place throughout the 2019–2024 parliament. There were no vacant seats at dissolution.

Date of the election

Originally the next election was scheduled to take place on 2 May 2024 under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. At the 2019 general election, in which the Conservatives won a majority of 80 seats, the party's manifesto contained a commitment to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act. In December 2020, the government duly published a draft Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (Repeal) Bill, later retitled the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022. This entered into force on 24 March 2022. Thus, the prime minister can again request the monarch to dissolve Parliament and call an early election with 25 working days' notice. Section 4 of the Act provided: "If it has not been dissolved earlier, a Parliament dissolves at the beginning of the day that is the fifth anniversary of the day on which it first met." The Electoral Commission confirmed that the 2019 Parliament would, therefore, have to be dissolved, at the latest, by 17 December 2024, and that the next general election had to take place no later than 28 January 2025.

With no election date fixed in law, there was speculation as to when the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, would call an election. On 18 December 2023, Sunak told journalists that the election would take place in 2024 rather than January 2025. On 4 January, he first suggested the general election would probably be in the second half of 2024. On 22 May 2024, following much speculation through the day, Sunak officially announced the election would be held on 4 July with the dissolution of the Parliament on 30 May.

The deadline for candidate nominations was 7 June 2024, with ongoing political campaigning for four weeks until polling day on 4 July. On the day of the election, polling stations across the country will be open from 7 am, and will close at 10 pm. The date chosen for the 2024 general election made it the first to be held in July since the 1945 general election. A total of 4,515 candidates were nominated, more than in any previous general election.

Timetable

Key dates

Date	Day	Event
22 May	Wednesday	Prime Minister Rishi Sunak requests a dissolution of parliament from King Charles III and announces the date of polling day for the general election as 4 July.
24 May	Friday	Last sitting day of business. Parliament prorogued.
25 May	Saturday	Beginning of pre-election period (also known as purdah).
30 May	Thursday	Dissolution of parliament and official start of the campaign. Royal Proclamation issued dissolving the 2019 Parliament, summoning the 2024 Parliament and setting the date for its first meeting.
7 June	Friday	Nominations of candidates close (4 pm). Publication of statement of persons nominated, including notice of poll and situation of polling stations (5 pm).
13 June	Thursday	Deadline to register to vote at 11:59 pm in Northern Ireland.
18 June	Tuesday	Deadline to register to vote at 11:59 pm in Great Britain.
19 June	Wednesday	Deadline to apply for a postal vote.
26 June	Wednesday	Deadline to register for a proxy vote at 5 pm. Exemptions applied for emergencies.
4 July	Thursday	Polling Day – polls open from 7 am to 10 pm.
4–5 July	Thursday–Friday	Results announced for most or all constituencies.
5 July	Friday	End of pre-election period (also known as purdah).
9 July	Tuesday	First meeting of the new Parliament of the United Kingdom, for the formal election of Speaker of the House of Commons. Over the next few days, MPs will be sworn in.
17 July	Wednesday	State Opening of Parliament and King's Speech.

Betting scandal

Main article: 2024 United Kingdom general election betting scandal

On 12 June 2024, it became known that Craig Williams, Sunak's parliamentary private secretary who is standing for the Conservatives in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, had placed a £100 bet on the election being in July, three days before this was announced. The bet was referred to the Gambling Commission to determine whether Williams had placed the bet based on confidential information, which could constitute a criminal offence. Williams apologised for the bet, but neither he nor Sunak would answer whether he had inside information. The Gambling Commission wrote to Sunak about Williams. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Williams's bet on the election was "very foolish".

On 19 June, a police protection officer assigned to Sunak was arrested for betting on the election date. On the same day, it was also announced that Laura Saunders, who is standing for the Conservatives in Bristol North West, was being investigated for betting on the election date. Her husband, Tony Lee, is also being investigated by the Gambling Commission and took a leave of absence from his role as the party's director of campaigning on 19 June. The Liberal Democrats called for Saunders's candidacy to be suspended, while Starmer said that had she and Williams been Labour candidates, "their feet would not have touched the floor". Responding to news of the controversy, Sunak said he was "incredibly angry" to learn of allegations that members of his party had betted on the date of the election, and that he would "boot out" anyone found to have broken the law.

On 22 June, The Sunday Times reported that Nick Mason, the Conservative Party's chief data officer, was also under investigation by the Gambling Commission. He has taken a leave of absence and denies any wrongdoing. Further, as yet unnamed, individuals are also under investigation. Additionally, the Conservative Party is conducting its own inquiry.

On 25 June, the Conservative Party withdrew support from the candidacies of Williams and Saunders. As this was after the close of nominations, both will still appear as Conservatives on the ballot paper. Later that day, the Metropolitan Police said five more police officers were under investigation. Labour also withdrew support from Kevin Craig, their candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, on the same day when it came to light that he had placed a bet on his Conservative opponent to win in the election.

Electoral system

See also: Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 and Politics of the United Kingdom

General elections in the United Kingdom are organised using first-past-the-post voting. The Conservative Party, which won a majority at the 2019 general election, included pledges in its manifesto to remove the 15-year limit on voting for British citizens living abroad, and to introduce a voter identification requirement in Great Britain. These changes were included in the Elections Act 2022.

Boundary reviews

Reading of the dissolution proclamation on the steps of the Royal Exchange.

The Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which proposed reducing the number of constituencies from 650 to 600, commenced in 2011 but temporarily stopped in January 2013. Following the 2015 general election, each of the four parliamentary boundary commissions of the United Kingdom recommenced their review process in April 2016. The four commissions submitted their final recommendations to the Secretary of State on 5 September 2018 and made their reports public a week later. However, the proposals were never put forward for approval before the calling of the general election held on 12 December 2019, and in December 2020 the reviews were formally abandoned under the Schedule to the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020. A projection by psephologists Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher of how the 2017 votes would have translated to seats under the 2018 boundaries suggested the changes would have been beneficial to the Conservatives and detrimental to Labour.

In March 2020, Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith confirmed that the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies would be based on retaining 650 seats. The previous relevant legislation was amended by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020 and the four boundary commissions formally launched their 2023 reviews on 5 January 2021. They were required to issue their final reports prior to 1 July 2023. Once the reports had been laid before Parliament, Orders in Council giving effect to the final proposals had to be made within four months, unless "there are exceptional circumstances". Prior to the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020, boundary changes could not be implemented until they were approved by both Houses of Parliament. The boundary changes were approved at a meeting of the Privy Council on 15 November 2023 and came into force on 29 November 2023, meaning that the election will be contested on these new boundaries.

Notional 2019 results

Main article: 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies § Notional 2019 general election results

The notional results of the 2019 election, if they had taken place under boundaries recommended by the Sixth Periodic Review.

The election will be contested under new constituency boundaries established by the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. Consequently, media outlets tend to report seat gains and losses as compared to notional results. These are the results if all votes cast in 2019 were unchanged, but regrouped by new constituency boundaries. Notional results in the UK are always estimated, usually with the assistance of local election results, because vote counts at parliamentary elections in the UK do not yield figures at any level more specific than that of the whole constituency.

In England, seats will be redistributed towards Southern England, away from Northern England, due to the different rates of population growth. North West England and North East England will lose two seats each whereas South East England will gain seven seats and South West England will gain three seats. Based on historical voting patterns, this is expected to help the Conservatives. Based on these new boundaries, different parties would have won several constituencies with unchanged names but changed boundaries in 2019. For example, the Conservatives would have won Wirral West and Leeds North West instead of the Labour Party, but Labour would have won Pudsey and Heywood & Middleton instead of the Conservatives. Westmorland and Lonsdale, the constituency represented by former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, is now notionally a Conservative seat.

In Scotland, 57 MPs will be elected, down from the 59 in 2019, with the following notional partisan composition of Scotland's parliamentary delegation: The Scottish National Party would remain steady on 48 seats, despite two of its constituencies being dissolved. The Scottish Conservatives' seat count of six would likewise remain unchanged. Scottish Labour would have retained Edinburgh South, the sole constituency they won in 2019. Had the 2019 general election occurred with the new boundaries in effect, the Scottish Liberal Democrats would have only won two seats (Edinburgh West and Orkney and Shetland), instead of the four they did win that year, as the expanded electorates in the other two would overcome their slender majorities.

Under the new boundaries, Wales will lose eight seats, electing 32 MPs instead of the 40 it elected in 2019. Welsh Labour would have won 18 instead of the 22 MPs it elected in 2019, and the Welsh Conservatives 12 instead of 14. Due to the abolition and merging of rural constituencies in West Wales, Plaid Cymru would have only won two seats instead of four. Nonetheless, the boundary changes are expected to cause difficulty for the Conservatives as more pro-Labour areas are added to some of their safest seats.

In Northern Ireland, the notional results are identical to the actual results of the 2019 general election in Northern Ireland.

Notional 2019 results on 2023 boundaries

Party		MPs
		2019 actual result	2019 notional result	Change
	Conservative	365	372	7
	Labour	202	200	2
	SNP	48	48
	Liberal Democrats	11	8	3
	DUP	8	8
	Sinn Féin	7	7
	Plaid Cymru	4	2	2
	SDLP	2	2
	Green (E&W)	1	1
	Alliance	1	1
	Speaker	1	1

Campaign

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announcing the date of the election

Discussion around the campaign has been focused on the prospect of a change in government, as the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has significant leads in opinion-polling over the governing Conservative Party led by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Projections four weeks before the vote indicated a landslide victory for Labour that would surpass the one achieved by Tony Blair at the 1997 general election, while comparisons have been made in the media to the 1993 Canadian federal election, due to the prospect of a potential Conservative wipeout.

On the afternoon of 22 May 2024, Sunak announced outside 10 Downing Street that he had asked the King to call a general election for 4 July 2024, surprising his own MPs. The calling of the election was welcomed by Starmer, and by Liberal Democrats' leader Ed Davey. Starmer said that the election is an "opportunity for change", mentioning the issues of sewage in British rivers, people waiting on trolleys in A&E, the cost of living crisis and crime going "virtually unpunished". Starmer offered three reasons why people should vote for Labour, firstly to "stop the chaos", secondly "because it's time for change" and thirdly because Labour have "a long-term plan to rebuild Britain" that "is ready to go, fully-costed and fully funded". Responding to the election being called, Davey said:

This General Election is a chance to kick Rishi Sunak’s appalling Conservative government out of office and deliver the change the public is crying out for. For years the Conservative Party has taken voters for granted and lurched from crisis to crisis while the problems facing the country are getting so much worse. ... Every vote for the Liberal Democrats at this election is a vote for a strong local champion who will stand up for your community and health services. It's clear that in many seats across the country, the best way to beat the Conservatives is to vote for the Liberal Democrats.

Sunak's announcement received significant media coverage for taking place during heavy rain at a lectern outside 10 Downing Street, without the use of any umbrella or shelter from the rain. The D:Ream song "Things Can Only Get Better" (frequently used by the Labour Party, then led by Blair, in its successful 1997 campaign) was unexpectedly played by the political activist Steve Bray as Sunak announced the date of the general election. This led to the song reaching number two on UK's iTunes Charts. The band later stated they regretted the use of the song in political campaigns and would not grant permission for it to be used in future campaigns.

22–26 May

At the beginning of the campaign, Labour had a significant lead in polling over the Conservatives. Polling would also show Labour doing well against the Scottish National Party (SNP). Davey has been noted for his campaign stunts. When visiting Windermere, Davey fell off his paddleboard, whilst campaigning to highlight the issue of sewage discharges into Britain's rivers and lakes. A couple of days later, Davey won high-profile media attention when going down a Slip 'N Slide, whilst drawing attention to deteriorating mental health among children. When asked about these stunts, Davey said: "Politicians need to take the concerns and interests of voters seriously but I'm not sure they need to take themselves seriously all the time and I'm quite happy to have some fun".

On 23 May, Sunak said that before the election there would be no flights to Rwanda for those seeking asylum. Immigration figures were published for 2023 showing immigration remained at historically high levels, but had fallen compared to 2022. Nigel Farage initially said that he would not stand as a candidate in the election, while his party Reform UK said it would stand in 630 seats across England, Scotland and Wales. Farage later announced on 3 June that, contrary to his statement earlier in the campaign, he would stand for Parliament in Clacton, and that he had resumed leadership of Reform UK, taking over from Richard Tice. He also said that Labour would win the election. Ed Davey launched the Liberal Democrat campaign in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The SNP campaign launch the same day was overshadowed over a dispute around leader John Swinney's support for Michael Matheson and developments in Operation Branchform. Starmer launched the Labour Party campaign in Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium, home of Gillingham Football Club.

On 24 May, the Conservatives proposed setting up a Royal Commission to consider a form of mandatory national service. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced on 24 May he was running as an independent in Islington North against a Labour candidate, and was thus expelled from the party.

27 May – 2 June

On 27 May, Starmer made a keynote speech on security and other issues.

On 28 May, the Conservatives pledged a "Triple Lock Plus" where the personal income tax allowance for pensioners would always stay higher than the state pension. Labour criticised the policy as being uncosted. Davey went paddleboarding on Lake Windermere in the marginal constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale, highlighting the release of sewage in waterways. He pledged to abolish Ofwat and introduce a new water regulator to tackle the situation, in addition to proposing a ban on bonuses for chief executives of water companies. Starmer was in West Sussex and emphasised his small town roots in first big campaign speech.

On 29 May, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised a 18-week NHS waiting target within five years of a Labour government. Labour also pledged to double number of NHS scanners in England. On the same day Starmer denied that Diane Abbott had been blocked as a candidate amid differing reports. Abbott had been elected as a Labour MP, but had been suspended from the parliamentary party for a brief period. There was controversy about further Labour Party candidate selections, with several candidates on the left of the party being excluded.

On 30 May, both the Conservatives and Labour ruled out any rise in value-added tax. The SNPs Màiri McAllan claimed that only the SNP offers Scotland a route back into the European Union making Pro-Europeanism part of the party's campaign. Reform UK proposed an immigration tax on British firms who employ foreign workers. Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay launched the Green Party campaign in Bristol. Rhun ap Iorwerth launched the Plaid Cymru campaign in Bangor.

On 1 June, the Conservatives and Labour unveiled their campaign buses. Labour promised to cut net migration by improving training for British workers. George Galloway launched the Workers Party of Britain campaign in Ashton-under-Lyne.

3–9 June

On 3 June, Sunak pledged to tackle what he called the "confusion" over the legal definition of sex by proposing amending the Equality Act, and was photobombed by the Liberal Democrats while campaigning in Henley-on-Thames. Labour focused on national security, with Starmer reaffirming his commitment to a "nuclear deterrent triple lock", including building four new nuclear submarines. A YouGov poll conducted on the same day revealed Labour to be on course for the party's biggest election victory in history, beating Tony Blair's 1997 landslide. The poll indicated Labour could win 422 seats, while the Conservatives were projected to win 140 seats.

On 4 June, Farage launched his campaign in Clacton. He announced the previous day that he intends Reform UK to be the Official Opposition following the election as opposed to the Conservatives, saying that the Conservatives are incapable of being the Opposition due to "spending most of the last five years fighting each other rather than fighting for the interests of this country".

On 6 June, the Greens announced plans to invest an extra £50 billion a year for the NHS by raising taxes on the top 1% of earners. Social care has been a campaign issue. The Conservatives also announced a policy on expanding child benefit for higher-earners.

Sunak and Starmer attended D-Day commemorations on 6 June, the 80th anniversary. Sunak was heavily criticised for leaving events early to do an interview with ITV, including by veterans. Starmer met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and King Charles III during the D-Day commemorations, and said that Sunak "has to answer for his actions". Sunak apologised the next day and apologised again on 10 June. He made a third apology on 12 June.

Farage was among those critical of Sunak over his leaving the D-Day events, saying on 7 June that Sunak did not understand "our culture". Conservative and Labour politicians criticised these words as being a racist attack on Sunak, which Farage denied. Douglas Ross announced he would stand down as the leader of the Scottish Conservatives after the election. With Reform UK doing well in the polls, Suella Braverman argued that the Conservatives should find a way to work with Reform UK and welcome Farage into the Conservatives.

10–16 June

On 10 June, Labour pledged 100,000 new childcare places and more than 3,000 new nurseries as part of its childcare plan.

The Liberal Democrat manifesto For A Fair Deal was released on 10 June, which included commitments on free personal care in England, investment in the NHS including more GPs, increased funding for education and childcare (including a tutoring guarantee for children from low-income families), increased funding for public services, tax reforms, reaching net zero by 2045 (5 years before the current government target of 2050), investing in green infrastructure, innovation, training and skills across the UK to boost economic growth, and removing the two-child limit on tax and benefits. The Liberal Democrats also offered a lifelong skills grant, giving adults £5,000 to spend on improving their skills. The party wants electoral reform, and pledged to introduce proportional representation for electing MPs, and local councillors in England, and cap donations to political parties.

Sunak launched the Conservative manifesto Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future. on 11 June, addressing the economy, taxes, welfare, expanding free childcare, education, healthcare, environment, energy, transport, community, and crime. They pledged to lower taxes, increase education and NHS spending, deliver 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors, introduce a new model of National Service, continue to expand apprenticeships and vocational training, simplify the planning system to speed up infrastructure projects (digital, transport and energy), and to treble Britain's offshore wind capacity and support solar energy. The manifesto includes a pledge to abolish Stamp Duty on homes worth up to £425,000 for first time buyers and expand the Help to Buy scheme. The Conservatives also pledged a recruitment of 8,000 new police officers and a rollout of facial recognition technology. Much of what has been proposed is already incorporated in the 2024 budget.

On 6 June, the GPEW announced plans to invest an extra £50 billion a year for the NHS by raising taxes on the top 1% of earners. The GPEW manifesto Real Hope. Real Change. was released on 12 June, which pledged more taxes on the highest earners, generating £70 billion a year to help tackle climate change and the NHS. They also pledged increased spending for public services, free personal care in England, renationalisation of railways, water and energy, a green society, a wealth tax, a carbon tax, and a windfall tax on the profit of banks.

On 12 June, Conservative minister Grant Shapps said in a radio interview that voters should support the Conservatives so as to prevent Labour winning "a super-majority" (a large majority), although, the UK Parliament does not have any formal supermajority rules. This was interpreted by journalists as a possible and surprising admission of defeat. It paralleled social media advertising by the Conservatives that also focused on urging votes not to give Starmer a large majority.

On 13 June, Starmer launched the Labour Party manifesto Change, which focused on economic growth, planning system reforms, infrastructure, what they describe as "clean energy", healthcare, education, childcare, and strengthening workers' rights. It pledged a new publicly owned energy company and National Wealth Fund, a "Green Prosperity Plan", rebuilding the NHS and reducing patient waiting times, free breakfast clubs in primary schools, investing in green infrastructure, innovation, training and skills across the UK to boost economic growth, and renationalisation of the railway network. It includes wealth creation and 'pro-business and pro-worker' policies. The manifesto also pledged to give votes to 16 year olds, reform the House of Lords, and to tax private schools, with money generated going into improving state education. The party guaranteed giving all areas of England devolution powers, in areas such as integrated transport, planning, skills, and health.

17–20 June

On 17 June, Farage and Tice launched the Reform UK manifesto, which they called a "contract" (Our Contract with You). It pledged to lower taxes, lower immigration, increase funding for public services, reform the NHS and decrease its waiting lists to 'zero', bring utilities and critical national infrastructure under 50% public ownership (the other 50% owned by UK pension funds), replace the House of Lords with a more democratic second chamber, and to replace first-past-the-post voting with a system of proportional representation. It also pledged to accelerate transport infrastructure in coastal regions, Wales, the North, and the Midlands. The party also wants to freeze non-essential immigration and recruit 40,000 new police officers. Reform UK are the only major party to oppose the current net zero target made by the government. Instead, it pledges to support the environment with more tree planting, more recycling and less single-use plastics.

Farage predicted Labour would win the election, but said he was planning to campaign for the next election. Labour's Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves claimed Labour's green plans would create over 650,000 jobs. Reeves also pledged "improved" UK-EU trade terms and relations. The Liberal Democrats offered more cost-of-living help for rural communities. Davey spent the morning in Devon, where he made sandcastles with children and their parents. Davey said he was making "affordable sandcastles", reflecting on his manifesto pledge to build 380,000 new homes a year, 150,000 of which would be social homes. On 18 June, Labour pledged hundreds of new banking hubs, to ''breathe life'' into high streets.

On 19 June, both the SNP and Sinn Féin released their manifestos. The SNP leader John Swinney said a vote for his party would "intensify" the pressure to secure a second Scottish independence referendum, with other pledges in the SNP manifesto "A Vision Made for Scotland" including boosting NHS funding, scrapping the two-child limit on benefits, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, scrapping the Trident defence programme, rejoining the European Union, transitioning to a green economy attracting more foreign migrants, tackling drugs deaths and devolving broadcasting powers. The Sinn Féin maifesto Strong Leadership. Positive Change. called for greater devolution to Northern Ireland and for the UK and Irish governments to set a date for referendum on the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. Galloway launched the Workers Party election manifesto, with promises to improve "poverty pay" and provide more social housing. It pledges the renationalisation of utility companies, free school meals for all children without means testing, free adult education, and to hold a referendum on the continued existence of the monarchy and proportional representation for elections. An overhaul of arts funding, to make space for working-class communities, was also noted.

David TC Davies, the Secretary of State for Wales, told a BBC interview the polls were "clearly pointing at a large Labour majority", but added that he believed there was "no great optimism" from voters. A potentially large Labour majority was also acknowledged by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride. Alison McGarry, the Labour chair of Islington North, resigned from the Labour Party after being spotted campaigning for Corbyn; she resigned rather than face expulsion for breaking the party's rules on campaigning for a rival candidate.

On 20 June, the parties focused on housing. Labour pledged action to protect renters with new legal protections for tenants. It would immediately ban Section 21 "no-fault" evictions, as part of plans to reform the private rented sector in England. Labour also pledged to reform planning laws and build 1.5 million homes to spread homeownership. The Conservatives offered stronger legal protections for tenants, including banning Section 21 "no-fault" evictions, despite this already been pledged in the last Conservative manifesto. They would build 1.6 million new homes, prioritising brownfield development, while protecting the countryside. The Liberal Democrats offered more protections for tenants, additional social housing, and more garden cities.

Also on 20 June, the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland launched their manifesto.

21 June – present

On 21 June, in a BBC Panorama leader interview with journalist Nick Robinson, Farage repeated comments he had made previously claiming that the West and NATO provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He was criticised for his comments by Sunak and Starmer. He also stated that Reform UK would lower the tax burden to encourage people into work. Farage also stated in an interview with ITV News that he would remove university tuition fees if he won power, but only for those studying science, technology, engineering, medicine or maths. Reform UK have already pledged to scrap interest on student loans and to extend the loan capital repayment periods to 45 years. Farage also declared his ambition for Reform UK to replace the Conservatives as the biggest right-wing party in Parliament.

The Conservatives pledged a review of licensing laws and planning rules aimed at boosting pubs, restaurants and music venues would be launched in the first 100 days of a new Conservative government. Labour framed its 10-year science and R&D budget plans as part of its industrial strategy, with an aim of boosting workforce and regional development. Labour and the Liberal Democrats also focused on water pollution and improving England's water quality.

On 24 June, Labour focused on NHS dentistry and health. Labour also pledged to hold a knife crime summit every year and halve incidents within a decade. Starmer vowed to make tackling knife crime a "moral mission". The Greens pledged to end 'dental deserts' with £3bn for new NHS contracts.

The Liberal Democrats launched a mini-manifesto for carers. It pledged to establish an independent living taskforce to help people live independently in their own homes, a new care worker's minimum wage to raise their pay by £2 an hour, and a new National Care Agency. Sunak launched the Scottish Conservatives' manifesto. Starmer was in Northamptonshire as he visited a school to take questions from pupils and Northampton Town F.C. to discuss the Football Governance Bill, which will establish the new Independent Football Regulator. The Conservatives, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats have all committed to introducing an Independent Football Regulator. Liberal Democrat leader Davey stopped off at an ambulance station to focus on the NHS and ambulance waiting times.

On 25 June, Davey went to a further education college in Harrogate, where he was pictured taking part in an arts class. The Liberal Democrats have pledged to establish a series of "creative enterprise zones" across the UK to regenerate cultural output. Starmer visited Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in West London, to demonstrate the importance of the performing arts and the theatre sector in Labour's creative industries strategy.

On 26 June, Alex Salmond launched the Alba Party manifesto. It pledges to increase funding for public services, increase NHS staffing, provide an annual £500 payment to households receiving the council tax reduction at a cost of £250 million, increase the Scottish Child Payment, reducing fuel bills, a new Scottish clean energy public company, and Scottish Independence. Starmer met patients in Leicestershire and pledged GP reforms; including the training of thousands more GPs, updating the NHS App, and bringing back the 'family doctor'. Labour would also trial new "neighbourhood health centres". The SDLP also launched their manifesto on 26 June.

On 27 June, Labour pledged to reform careers advice and work experience in schools for one million pupils, committing to deliver two weeks’ worth of quality work experience for every young person, and recruit more than thousands of new careers advisers. This is part of the party’s wider plan to establish a “youth guarantee” of access to training, an apprenticeship or support to find work for all 18 to 21-year-olds.

Media coverage

On 23 May, Sky News announced that its election night coverage would be hosted by Kay Burley and Sophy Ridge, with analysis from Andy Burnham and Ruth Davidson. They will be joined by Beth Rigby, Trevor Phillips, Ed Conway and Sam Coates. On 24 May, Channel 4 announced that its coverage would be hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Emily Maitlis, with analysis from Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries was announced as part of the lineup on 25 June. On 28 May, BBC News announced that its coverage would be hosted by Clive Myrie and Laura Kuenssberg, with analysis from Sir John Curtice, Jeremy Vine and Reeta Chakrabarti. On 10 June, ITV News announced their election night coverage would be hosted by Tom Bradby, assisted by Robert Peston, Anushka Asthana and Paul Brand alongside election analysts Professors Jane Green and Colin Rallings. They will be joined by Nicola Sturgeon, George Osborne and Ed Balls.

Debates and interviews

Debates

← 2019 debates	2024

The Conservatives challenged Keir Starmer to six televised debates. Labour announced that it would not agree to such a proposal, and offered two head-to-head debates—one shown on the BBC, and one shown on ITV; a spokesperson said both networks would offer the greatest audience, and the prospect of any debates on smaller channels would be rejected as it would not be a "valuable use of campaign time". Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey declared his wish to be included in "any televised debates". Starmer confirmed he would take part in a "leaders' event" hosted by Sky News, in which he would take questions from an audience in Grimsby, and that negotiations were undergoing for Rishi Sunak to also attend.

On 29 May, it was announced that the first leaders' debate would be hosted by ITV News and titled "Sunak v Starmer: The ITV Debate" with Julie Etchingham as moderator, on Tuesday 4 June. Key topics were the cost of living crisis, the National Health Service (NHS), young people, immigration and tax policy. Sunak asserted that Labour would cost households £2000 more in tax, which Starmer denied. Sunak claimed this figure was calculated by "independent Treasury officials". Fact checkers disputed the sum, noting it was based on assumptions made by political appointees and that the figure was over a 4-year period. On 5 June, the BBC reported that James Bowler, the Treasury permanent secretary, wrote that "civil servants were not involved in the [...] calculation of the total figure used" and that "any costings derived from other sources or produced by other organisations should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service". The Office for Statistics Regulation also criticised the claim on the grounds that it was presented without the listener knowing it was a sum over 4 years. A YouGov snap poll after the debate indicated that 46% of debate viewers thought Sunak had performed better, and 45% believed Starmer had performed better. A Savanta poll published the next day, however, favoured Starmer 44% to Sunak 39%. The debate was watched by 5.37 million viewers, making it the most-viewed programme of the week.

An STV debate hosted by Colin Mackay took place on 3 June, which included Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar, John Swinney and Alex Cole-Hamilton. Another debate between these leaders (also including Lorna Slater) took place on 11 June, on BBC Scotland, hosted by Stephen Jardine.

A BBC debate hosted by Mishal Husain took place on 7 June, which included Nigel Farage, Carla Denyer, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Daisy Cooper, Stephen Flynn, Angela Rayner and Penny Mordaunt. The debate included exchanges between Mordaunt and Rayner over tax, and all the attendees criticised Sunak leaving the D-Day events early; Farage called Sunak's actions "disgraceful" and said veterans had been deserted, Cooper said it was "politically shameful" and Mordaunt said Sunak's choice to leave prematurely had been "completely wrong". After the seven-way debate, a snap poll found that viewers considered Farage had won, followed by Rayner, but that Flynn, Denyer and Cooper scored best on doing a good job. Another debate between these leaders took place on 13 June, with Julie Etchingham as moderator. The debate included further exchanges between Mordaunt and Rayner over tax.

On 12 June Sky News hosted a town hall-style leaders' event in Grimsby hosted by Beth Rigby, including Starmer and Sunak, where they took questions from both Rigby and the audience. The debate covered various topics, including the NHS, the economy, immigration, and their future plans in government. Starmer started the event by saying he was putting the country ahead of his party, bringing Labour "back into the service of working people". He went on to attack the Conservatives on tax policy, saying that "the Tories are in no position to lecture anyone about tax rises". When questioned by Rigby over supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the previous election, Starmer that he was "certain that we would lose the 2019 election". Sunak adopted a defensive stance, saying that "it [hadn't] been an easy 18 months" and was questioned over his early exit from the 80th D-Day anniversary events, as well as the Rwanda asylum plan. 64% of those questioned by YouGov immediately following the debate said that Starmer had performed better, compared to 36% who said Sunak had performed better.

Channel 4 News hosted a debate on 18 June with all seven of the main parties focusing solely on the issues of immigration and law and order. On 24 June, a The Sun/Talk event hosted by Harry Cole titled Never Mind the Ballots "Election Showdown" Special was attended by Sunak and Starmer.

BBC debates included three Question Time specials, two hosted by Fiona Bruce on 20 and 28 June, and one hosted by Bethan Rhys Roberts on 24 June. The first of the two hosted by Bruce featured four separate half-hour question and answer sessions with Sunak, Starmer, Davey and Swinney; the second of the two hosted by Bruce will feature the same format with Denyer or Ramsay and Farage; the third will feature the same format with ap Iorwerth. There was a BBC Cymru Wales debate on 21 June; and a debate between Sunak and Starmer hosted by Mishal Husain took place on 26 June. There was also a BBC debate on 27 June involving the five largest Northern Irish political parties.

2024 United Kingdom general election debates in Great Britain
Date	Broadcaster	Host	Location	Territory	Viewing figures (million)	P  Present  I  Invited  S  Surrogate  NI  Not invited  A  Absent  N  No debate
						Conservative	Labour	SNP	Lib Dems	Plaid Cymru	Green (E&W/SCO)	Reform UK
3 June	STV	Colin Mackay	Glasgow	Scotland	TBA	P Ross	P Sarwar	P Swinney	P Cole-Hamilton	NI	NI	NI
4 June	ITV	Julie Etchingham	Salford	UK	5.37	P Sunak	P Starmer	NI	NI	NI	NI	NI
7 June	BBC	Mishal Husain	London	UK	3.25	S Mordaunt	S Rayner	S Flynn	S Cooper	P ap Iorwerth	P Denyer	P Farage
11 June	BBC Scotland (Debate Night Leaders' Special)	Stephen Jardine	Glasgow	Scotland	TBA	P Ross	P Sarwar	P Swinney	P Cole-Hamilton	NI	P Slater	NI
13 June	ITV	Julie Etchingham	Salford	UK	2.1	S Mordaunt	S Rayner	S Flynn	S Cooper	P ap Iorwerth	P Denyer	P Farage
16 June	ITV Cymru Wales	Adrian Masters	Cardiff	Wales	TBA	S Davies	S Stevens	NI	NI	S Saville Roberts	NI	NI
18 June	Channel 4 (News)	Krishnan Guru-Murthy	Colchester	UK	TBA	S Philp	S Thomas-Symonds	S Brown	S Cooper	P ap Iorwerth	P Denyer	S Tice
21 June	BBC Cymru Wales	Bethan Rhys Roberts	Cardiff	Wales	TBA	P Davies	P Gething	NI	P Dodds	P ap Iorwerth	NI	P Lewis
26 June	BBC	Mishal Husain	Nottingham	UK	TBA	P Sunak	P Starmer	NI	NI	NI	NI	NI

2024 United Kingdom general election debates in Northern Ireland
Date	Organiser	Host	Location	Viewing figures (millions)	P  Present  I  Invited  S  Surrogate  NI  Not invited  A  Absent  N  No debate
					DUP	Sinn Féin	SDLP	UUP	Alliance
23 June	UTV	Vicki Hawthorne	Belfast	TBA	P Robinson	S Finucane	P Eastwood	S Butler	P Long
27 June	BBC Northern Ireland	Tara Mills	TBA	TBA	P Robinson	S Hazzard	P Eastwood	S Butler	P Long

Interviews

In addition to the debates, the BBC and ITV broadcast programmes in which the leaders of the main parties were interviewed at length.

Many were rescheduled over the course of the campaign. Sunak's Tonight interview drew substantial coverage in the week prior to broadcast, as Sunak controversially departed the D-Day commemorations early to attend; it was later revealed that the interview slot had been chosen by Sunak and his team, from a range of options offered by ITN.

Endorsements

Main article: Endorsements in the 2024 United Kingdom general election

Newspapers, organisations, and individuals have endorsed parties or individual candidates for the election.

Candidates

Main article: Candidates in the 2024 United Kingdom general election

There are 4515 candidates standing, which constitutes a record number. This is a mean of 6.95 candidates per constituency. No seat has fewer than five people contesting it; Sunak's Richmond and Northallerton seat has the most candidates, with thirteen.

A record number of Conservative MPs are not standing for re-election, including former prime minister Theresa May and former cabinet ministers Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab, Matt Hancock, Ben Wallace, Nadhim Zahawi, Kwasi Kwarteng and Michael Gove.

In March 2022, Labour abandoned all-women shortlists, citing legal advice that continuing to use them for choosing parliamentary candidates would be an unlawful practice under the Equality Act 2010, since the majority of Labour MPs were now women.

In March 2024, Reform UK announced an electoral pact with the Northern Irish unionist party TUV. The TUV applied to run candidates as "TUV/Reform UK" on ballot papers, but this was rejected by the Electoral Office. Farage unilaterally ended this deal by endorsing two competing candidates from the Democratic Unionist Party on 10 June. Reform UK also announced a pact with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a minor socially conservative party, in some seats.

The below table shows all parties standing in at least 14 seats:

Parties		Number of candidates
	Conservative Party	635
	Labour Party	631
	Liberal Democrats	630
	Reform UK	609
	Green Party of England and Wales	574
	Workers Party of Britain	152
	Social Democratic Party	122
	Scottish National Party	57
	Co-operative Party	48
	Scottish Greens	44
	Heritage Party	41
	Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	40
	Plaid Cymru	32
	Yorkshire Party	27
	Rejoin EU	26
	UKIP	24
	Christian Peoples Alliance	22
	Official Monster Raving Loony Party	22
	Alba Party	19
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	18
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	18
	Ulster Unionist Party	17
	Democratic Unionist Party	16
	Party of Women	16
	Scottish Family Party	16
	Communist Party of Britain	14
	Sinn Féin	14
	Traditional Unionist Voice	14

There are additionally

• 37 other parties with more than one candidate standing,
• 36 candidates who are the only candidates of the group they are representing
• 459 independent candidates
• the Speaker.

A more complete list can be found here.

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election

Discussion around the campaign has been focused on the prospect of a change in government. Under Rishi Sunak's leadership, the Conservatives performed poorly at the 2022 and 2023 local elections, where Labour and the Liberal Democrats made gains from Conservatives, often by very wide margins. The parties made further gains in the 2024 local elections.

Under Keir Starmer's leadership, the Labour Party suffered losses in the 2021 local elections but since the end of 2021, the party has consistently polled ahead of the Conservatives, often by very wide margins, including the highest poll lead of any party in over 20 years amid the government crisis during the Truss premiership. During the 2022 local elections, Labour gained 108 seats (22 in England, 20 in Scotland, and 66 in Wales). During the 2023 local elections, the Labour Party gained more than 500 councillors and 22 councils, becoming the largest party in local government for the first time since 2002. Labour made further gains in the 2024 local elections and had a greater number of successful candidates than the Conservatives.

Under Ed Davey's leadership, the Liberal Democrats have made gains in local elections alongside Labour, with both parties making gains in the 2023 local elections and made further gains in the 2024 local elections, where the Liberal Democrats finished second for the first time in a local election cycle since 2009.

A YouGov poll conducted on the same day revealed Labour to be on course for the party's biggest election victory in history, beating Tony Blair's 1997 landslide. The poll indicated Labour could win 422 seats, while the Conservatives were projected to win 140 seats. Halfway through the campaign, psephologist John Curtice summarised the polls as having shown little change in the first two weeks of the campaign, but that they had then shown some clear shifts. Specifically, both the Conservatives and Labour had shown a decline of a few percentage points, leaving the gap between them unchanged, while Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats had both shown an increase, with one YouGov poll published 13 June attracting attention for showing Reform UK one point above the Conservative Party.

Graphical summaries

This section is an excerpt from Opinion polling for the 2024 United Kingdom general election § Graphical summaries.[edit]

Projections four weeks before the vote

Halfway through the campaign, psephologist John Curtice said that the polls as had shown little change in the first two weeks of the campaign, but that they had since shown some clear shifts, attributing these in part to the assumption of Reform UK leadership by Farage. Specifically, both the Conservatives and Labour had shown a few percentage points decline, leaving the gap between them unchanged, while Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats had both shown a few percentage points increase, with one YouGov poll published 13 June attracting attention for showing Reform UK above the Conservative Party.

"Others" figure includes the Speaker as well as the various political parties in Northern Ireland unless otherwise stated.

Four weeks before the vote

Source	Date	Con	Lab	Lib Dems	SNP	Plaid	Green	Reform	Others	Overall result
The Economist	7 June	182	394	22	24	2	1	0	19	Labour majority 138
Electoral Calculus	7 June	76	472	60	16	3	2	1	20	Labour majority 294
ElectionMapsUK	8 June	101	451	59	13	4	2	1	19	Labour majority 252
Financial Times	7 June	139	443	32	14	2	1	0	19	Labour majority 236
New Statesman	8 June	86	456	64	20	3	1	1	19	Labour majority 262
YouGov	3 June	140	422	48	17	2	2	0	19	Labour majority 194

Projections two weeks before the vote

Two weeks before the vote

Source	Date	Con	Lab	Lib Dems	SNP	Plaid	Green	Reform	Others	Overall result
The Economist	20 June	184	383	23	28	2	1	0	19	Labour majority 116
Electoral Calculus	21 June	76	457	66	22	4	2	3	2	Labour majority 264
Financial Times	19 June	97	459	51	21	2	1	0	19	Labour majority 268
The New Statesman	20 June	101	437	63	22	3	1	4	19	Labour majority 224
YouGov	19 June	108	425	67	20	4	2	5	0	Labour majority 198
Ipsos	18 June	115	453	38	15	4	3	3	1	Labour majority 256
Savanta	19 June	53	516	50	8	4	1	0	0	Labour majority 380
The New Statesman	22 June	96	435	63	24	3	4	6	1	Labour majority 238
Electoral Calculus	21 June	76	457	66	22	4	2	3	2	Labour majority 264

Projections one week before the vote

One weeks before the vote

Source	Date	Con	Lab	Lib Dems	SNP	Plaid	Green	Reform	Others	Overall result
The Economist	27 June	117	429	42	23	3	1	2	19	Labour majority 208
Electoral Calculus	26 June	60	450	71	24	4	4	18	19	Labour majority 250
ElectionMapsUK	27 June	80	453	71	17	4	4	2	19	Labour majority 256

See also

• 2020s in United Kingdom political history
• 2024 in politics and government
• 2024 United Kingdom general election in England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in the East of England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in the East Midlands
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in London
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in North East England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in North West England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in South East England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in South West England
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in the West Midlands
  • 2024 United Kingdom general election in Yorkshire and the Humber
• 2024 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
• 2024 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
• 2024 United Kingdom general election in Wales
• List of target seats in the 2024 United Kingdom general election
• Elections in the United Kingdom
• List of general elections in the United Kingdom

External links

Great Britain manifestos

• Alba Party
• Conservative Party
• Labour Party
• Liberal Democrat
• Green Party of England & Wales
• Reform UK
• Scottish National Party
• Plaid Cymru English Welsh
• Workers Party

Northern Ireland manifestos

• Alliance Party
• Democratic Unionist Party
• Ulster Unionist Party
• Sinn Féin
• Social Democratic and Labour Party