When the Parliament is dissolved, every seat in the parliament becomes vacant and then there is the necessity for holding the General Elections. Each constituency has its representative in the House of Commons. The Government is usually formed by the party, which wins the majority of seats in the parliamentary elections.
Frequency of General Elections
General Elections are held at specific intervals of 5 years. If the Parliament is dissolved before a full term of 5 years, then mid –term polls have to be held immediately.
Functions
The common people elect mPs wherein, a person can cast only one vote. The candidate who gets the maximum number of votes in a constituency, he becomes the MP for that constituency. The candidates may be attached to any political party or they can also be independent candidates.
Franchise
Usually franchise takes place in a polling booth but anyone can also ask for a postal vote. British citizens living out of the country can also enjoy their franchise through postal votes as long as they have been living out of the country for less than 15 years.
Last General Election
The last General Election was held on the 5th of May 2005.
