The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017 under the provisions of Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA), and took place two years after the general election in 2015.[2] The governing Conservative Party remained the largest single party in the House of Commons but lost its majority in the election, resulting in the formation of a minority government with a confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland.[3]
The Conservative Party, which had governed as a senior coalition partner between 2010 to 2015, and as a single-party majority government from 2015 to 2017, was defending a working majority of 17 seats against the Labour Party. In April 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap election, acting under the provisions of the FTPA to hold a vote on this in the House of Commons. The vote was ratified with a majority of 522-13 in support, on 19 April 2017. May's intention in the election was to secure a larger majority, in order to strengthen her political base for the forthcoming Brexit negotiations following the invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union in March.[4] Although Brexit was expected to be a key topic in campaigns, the major terrorist attacks in Manchester and London Bridge, switched the prominent issue to national security in the final weeks of campaigning.
Opinion polls showed consistent leads for the Conservatives over Labour. However, the election ended with the Conservatives making a net loss of 13 seats despite winning 42.4% of the vote (its highest share of the vote since 1983), whereas Labour made a net gain of 30 seats with 40.0% (its highest vote share since 2001, the first time the party had gained seats since 1997). The Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Liberal Democrats, the third- and fourth-largest parties, both lost vote share; media coverage characterised the result as a return to two-party politics.[5] The SNP, which had won 56 of the 59 Scottish seats at the previous general election in 2015, lost 21. The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of four seats. UKIP, the third-largest party in 2015 by number of votes, saw its share of the vote reduced from 12.6% to 1.8% and lost its only seat.
In Wales, Plaid Cymru gained one seat, giving it a total of four seats. The Green Party retained its sole seat, but saw its share of the vote reduced. In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won 10 seats, Sinn Féin won seven, and Independent Unionist Sylvia Hermon retained her seat. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) lost all their seats. The Conservatives were narrowly victorious and remained in power as a minority government, having secured a confidence and supply deal with the DUP.[6]
Each parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom elects one MP to the House of Commons using the "first past the post" system. If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government, with its leader as Prime Minister. If the election results in no single party having a majority, there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition.[7]
The Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was not due to report until 2018,[8] and therefore this general election took place under existing boundaries, enabling direct comparisons with the results by constituency in 2015.
Voting eligibility
To vote in the general election, one had to be:[9][10]
on the Electoral Register;
aged 18 or over on polling day;
a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen;
a 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),[n 6] and;
not legally excluded from voting (for example, a convicted person detained in prison or a mental hospital, or unlawfully at large if he/she would otherwise have been detained,[11] or a person found guilty of certain corrupt or illegal practices[12]) or disqualified from voting (peers sitting in the House of Lords).[13][14]
Individuals had to be registered to vote by midnight twelve working days before polling day (22 May).[15][16] Anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on 31 May to register.[n 7] A person who has two homes (such as a university student with a term-time address but lives at home during holidays) may be registered to vote at both addresses, as long as they are not in the same electoral area, but can vote in only one constituency at the general election.[18]
On 18 May, The Independent reported that more than 1.1 million people between 18 and 35 had registered to vote since the election was announced on 18 April. Of those, 591,730 were under the age of 25.[19]
Date and cost of the election
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 introduced fixed-term Parliaments to the United Kingdom, with elections scheduled every five years since the general election on 7 May 2015.[20] This removed the power of the Prime Minister, using the royal prerogative, to dissolve Parliament before its five-year maximum length.[20] The Act permits early dissolution if the House of Commons votes by a supermajority of two-thirds of the entire membership of the House.
On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May announced she would seek an election on 8 June,[21] despite previously ruling out an early election.[22][23] A House of Commons motion to allow this was passed on 19 April, with 522 votes for and 13 against, a majority of 509.[24] The motion was supported by the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, while the SNP abstained.[21] Nine Labour MPs, one SDLP MP and three independents (Sylvia Hermon and two former SNP MPs, Natalie McGarry and Michelle Thomson) voted against the motion.[25]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn supported the early election,[26] as did Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and the Green Party.[27][28] The SNP stated that it was in favour of fixed-term parliaments, and would abstain in the House of Commons vote.[29] UKIP leader Paul Nuttall and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones criticised May for being opportunistic in the timing of the election, motivated by the then strong position of the Conservative Party in the opinion polls.[30][31]
On 25 April, the election date was confirmed as 8 June,[32] with dissolution on 3 May. The government announced that it intended for the next parliament to assemble on 13 June, with the state opening on 19 June.
The Conservative Party, which had governed as a senior coalition partner between 2010 to 2015, and as a single-party majority government from 2015 to 2017, was defending a working majority of 17 seats against the Labour Party. In April 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap election, acting under the provisions of the FTPA to hold a vote on this in the House of Commons. The vote was ratified with a majority of 522-13 in support, on 19 April 2017. May's intention in the election was to secure a larger majority, in order to strengthen her political base for the forthcoming Brexit negotiations following the invocation of Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union in March.[4] Although Brexit was expected to be a key topic in campaigns, the major terrorist attacks in Manchester and London Bridge, switched the prominent issue to national security in the final weeks of campaigning.
Opinion polls showed consistent leads for the Conservatives over Labour. However, the election ended with the Conservatives making a net loss of 13 seats despite winning 42.4% of the vote (its highest share of the vote since 1983), whereas Labour made a net gain of 30 seats with 40.0% (its highest vote share since 2001, the first time the party had gained seats since 1997). The Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Liberal Democrats, the third- and fourth-largest parties, both lost vote share; media coverage characterised the result as a return to two-party politics.[5] The SNP, which had won 56 of the 59 Scottish seats at the previous general election in 2015, lost 21. The Liberal Democrats made a net gain of four seats. UKIP, the third-largest party in 2015 by number of votes, saw its share of the vote reduced from 12.6% to 1.8% and lost its only seat.
In Wales, Plaid Cymru gained one seat, giving it a total of four seats. The Green Party retained its sole seat, but saw its share of the vote reduced. In Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won 10 seats, Sinn Féin won seven, and Independent Unionist Sylvia Hermon retained her seat. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) lost all their seats. The Conservatives were narrowly victorious and remained in power as a minority government, having secured a confidence and supply deal with the DUP.[6]
Each parliamentary constituency of the United Kingdom elects one MP to the House of Commons using the "first past the post" system. If one party obtains a majority of seats, then that party is entitled to form the Government, with its leader as Prime Minister. If the election results in no single party having a majority, there is a hung parliament. In this case, the options for forming the Government are either a minority government or a coalition.[7]
The Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies was not due to report until 2018,[8] and therefore this general election took place under existing boundaries, enabling direct comparisons with the results by constituency in 2015.
Voting eligibility
To vote in the general election, one had to be:[9][10]
on the Electoral Register;
aged 18 or over on polling day;
a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen;
a 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),[n 6] and;
not legally excluded from voting (for example, a convicted person detained in prison or a mental hospital, or unlawfully at large if he/she would otherwise have been detained,[11] or a person found guilty of certain corrupt or illegal practices[12]) or disqualified from voting (peers sitting in the House of Lords).[13][14]
Individuals had to be registered to vote by midnight twelve working days before polling day (22 May).[15][16] Anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on 31 May to register.[n 7] A person who has two homes (such as a university student with a term-time address but lives at home during holidays) may be registered to vote at both addresses, as long as they are not in the same electoral area, but can vote in only one constituency at the general election.[18]
On 18 May, The Independent reported that more than 1.1 million people between 18 and 35 had registered to vote since the election was announced on 18 April. Of those, 591,730 were under the age of 25.[19]
Date and cost of the election
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 introduced fixed-term Parliaments to the United Kingdom, with elections scheduled every five years since the general election on 7 May 2015.[20] This removed the power of the Prime Minister, using the royal prerogative, to dissolve Parliament before its five-year maximum length.[20] The Act permits early dissolution if the House of Commons votes by a supermajority of two-thirds of the entire membership of the House.
On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May announced she would seek an election on 8 June,[21] despite previously ruling out an early election.[22][23] A House of Commons motion to allow this was passed on 19 April, with 522 votes for and 13 against, a majority of 509.[24] The motion was supported by the Conservatives, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, while the SNP abstained.[21] Nine Labour MPs, one SDLP MP and three independents (Sylvia Hermon and two former SNP MPs, Natalie McGarry and Michelle Thomson) voted against the motion.[25]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn supported the early election,[26] as did Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and the Green Party.[27][28] The SNP stated that it was in favour of fixed-term parliaments, and would abstain in the House of Commons vote.[29] UKIP leader Paul Nuttall and First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones criticised May for being opportunistic in the timing of the election, motivated by the then strong position of the Conservative Party in the opinion polls.[30][31]
On 25 April, the election date was confirmed as 8 June,[32] with dissolution on 3 May. The government announced that it intended for the next parliament to assemble on 13 June, with the state opening on 19 June.
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