Our guide to elections & government
The upcoming General Election (July 4th) is a crucial one for nature and climate. Consider this your guide to general elections and how the government works!
If you’ve never researched it or even if you’ve just spent some time away from politics, the world of parliament and the government can feel impenetrable. It’s hard to know where to start in attempting to understand how our country is run – which is why we wanted to break it down as simply as possible. Ahead of a vital General Election, it’s important we all understand as much as we can about UK politics so we can assess how things have been done, how elections actually work, and what we’d like to see for the future of our country.
Use the links below to explore this page or simply keep scrolling.
What is the government?
Made up of the Prime Minister, their Cabinet, and junior ministers, the Government is responsible for the running of the country. This includes:
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Setting taxes
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Passing laws
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Deciding where to spend public money
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Overseeing public services, such as: the National Health Service, the police and armed forces, welfare benefits like the State Pension, and the UK's energy supply.
A party is chosen to take charge of the government at a General Election and will do so for a term of up to five years.
What is parliament?
Parliament is a group of both elected and appointed people who collectively have to agree on laws or new taxes before the government can go ahead with them. It’s a key pillar of our country’s democratic system and is crucial in shaping national governance and policy. It is made up of two Houses: The House of Commons and The House of Lords. They work together to form the legislative branch of the government.
The House of Commons
Consisting of Members of Parliament (MPs), this is a group of 650 members elected by the public to represent their interests, consider laws, raise questions, and hold government to account. MPs play a vital role in the legislative process by introducing bills, taking part in debates, and voting on proposals. They act as representatives for their constituents (the people who live in the ‘consituency’/area that elected them).
The House of Lords
Made up of around 800 members, people are typically appointed to the House of Lords for life on either a political or non-political basis. They serve a similar role as members of The House of Commons in that they can scrutinise government and policy. The ‘Lords’ bring experience and knowledge from their various fields, contributing to the refinement and scrutiny of legislation. When a bill is passed by the Commons, they review it, debate it, and propose amendments.
In tandem, the goals of the two houses are to hold the government to account and represent the needs of the public by offering a wide range of perspectives.
Government ministers also have seats in Parliament, although most of their work is done in Government departments.
Combined, parliament should make sure that government decisions are honest, realistic, fair, efficient, non-discriminatory, and generally in the best interests of the public.
Glossary of roles & responsibilities
Prime Minister
The leader of the government who is responsible for policy and decision-making. The Prime Minister appoints government members and oversees the Civil Service/government agencies.
Cabinet
A group of senior government members, including Secretaries of State and some other Ministers, who meet each week during Parliament.
Secretaries of State
Senior ministers in the Government that head up major government departments e.g. Secretary of State for Defence.
Ministers
Ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister and each have a specific area of policy to oversee e.g. Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire in the Home Office. Most senior ministers are Secretaries of State.
Members of Parliament (MPs)
These publicly-elected officials win their place in Parliament by winning an election in a specific part of the country, called a constituency. They consider and propose new laws, raise issues, and meet with their local constituents.
The Opposition
The second largest party in government is known officially as The Opposition. In Parliament, they sit opposite government ministers and challenge the current government.
Shadow Cabinet and Ministers
The leader of the Opposition appoints Shadow Ministers to a Shadow Cabinet to scrutinise the people they ‘shadow’ in government and develop policies for their own party.
Speaker of the House
The Speaker is elected by MPs and acts as an impartial chair during debates in The House of Commons. They make sure order is maintained and rules are observed.
Whip
It’s the responsibility of the party whips to make sure that MPs vote in accordance with the party line.
How does a General Election work?
A general election is our chance to have a say on what party and which prime minister will run the country, as well as which candidate will become the MP for your constituency.
How is a General Election triggered?
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, general elections must be held at least every 5 years. However, the Government can call for a general election sooner than that under the same Act, so long as two-thirds of MPs agree to it by vote. This is known as a ‘snap election’.
Otherwise, the 5 years will run its course.
A Prime Minister or party might want to call for a general election to be held earlier for myriad reasons (which aren’t always made obvious), like:
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Getting ahead of polling trends (e.g. if polls are increasingly showing the party to be out of favour with the public, the government may decide it is sensible to call an election to avoid losing more seats than necessary)
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For the party to prove their position of power / that they are liked by the public (perhaps in order to push through legislation they have been struggling for against other parties)
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For the Prime Minister to seek and prove a “public mandate” if they have stepped in by party vote after the previous party leader resigned.
How does the General Election work & how is it won?
The UK is divided up into 650 areas or ‘constituencies’, each with its own MP to represent it in parliament. In Kent we have 17 constituencies.
Adults over 18 can register to vote and, in a General Election, they go to a polling station on election day to vote on who they would like to represent their constituency. They do this by marking on a ballot paper next to the name of the person they would like to be their MP. Most MPs belong to a political party – e.g. Labour, Conservative, Green, Lib Dem, etc.
The candidate that gets the most votes in their constituency becomes the MP for the area, winning a seat in the House of Commons. This means of winning a vote is known as ‘First Past the Post’ - otherwise known as a simple majority system.
In this sense, a General Election is made up of 650 different constituency elections happening across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales on the same day.
Most MPs belong to a political party, e.g. Labour, Conservative, Green, Lib Dem, etc. So, at the end of election day, the political party with the most elected MPs wins. This means that a party needs 326 MPs – half the number of the constituencies plus 1. You will hear this referred to as ‘winning an overall majority’, because they have won more seats in the House of Commons than all other political parties.
What is a hung parliament?
If no single party wins seats for 326 or more MPs, then there is a ‘hung parliament’. In this scenario, they have two options.
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Coalition government: This is where the parties with the most votes join up to create a government together.
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Minority government: The party that won the most MPs (but not an overall majority) can decide they don’t want to make a coalition and instead try to rule as a minority government. They can form partnerships or agreements with other parties to get more support in parliament.
What is the dissolution of parliament?
When an election is called, parliament has to be ‘dissolved’ 25 working days before the General Election takes place. The dissolution of parliament is the official term for the formal end of a parliament.
Every MP seat becomes vacant and MPs no longer represent their constituencies. In the interim, the Government and their team of ministers remain in post.
Councils & local elections
As we approach a general election, you might be wondering what the difference is between local and general elections, and what the role of a council is. Let’s break it down.
What is the difference between local and borough councils?
Who manages recycling and council tax, where do I go to complain about potholes and who represents me? To understand the answer to these questions, we first have to understand how places are divided in the UK.
Town or Parish councils
Town and Parish councils are responsible for maintaining local amenities such as footpaths, allotments and cemeteries. They can approve planning applications specific to neighbourhood development like community centres and parks. And they also develop 'neighbourhood plans' where they can decide on policies used to make decisions on planning. Believe it or not, with all this power, parish councillors are volunteers and receive no payment for the work they do.
District, Borough & City councils
These usually cover a larger area and are responsible for services like rubbish collection, recycling, council tax collection, housing and more. Councillors are responsible for setting council tax rates amongst other things. Elected members of district councils can make up the Local Planning Authority who have the authority to approve or decline planning applications.
County councils
These are responsible for whole county services such as education, transportation, planning, fire and public safety, social care and more. County Councils are also responsible for delivering their own Local Nature Recovery Strategy which are critical plans to help understand how and where to recover nature across England. Our LNRS is being delivered by Kent County Council and is called ‘Making Space for Nature’.
What’s the difference between local and general elections?
As a UK resident, there are three ways you can be represented. Your first vote would be for the lowest tier of government, your parish or town council. As mentioned, candidates are unpaid volunteers elected to represent the entire parish. Decisions of the council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk.
Your local elections decide district/borough/city councillors that make up the County. Elections take place every 4 years for district, borough and city council elections with the last in Kent, being held in 2023. The 12 district councils of Kent are:
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Ashford Borough Council
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Canterbury City Council
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Dartford Borough Council
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Dover District Council
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Folkestone and Hythe District Council
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Gravesham Borough Council
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Maidstone Borough Council
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Sevenoaks District Council
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Swale Borough Council
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Thanet District Council
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Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
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Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Districts are further subdivided into wards, of which Kent has over 300. Each resident will have the choice to vote for 1 of 3 councillors representing their ward. To find out your district and wards, visit the Ordnance Survey Election Map.
Couldn’t find Medway in that list? Interestingly, Medway is its own unitary authority (which means it has the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined), acting independently of Kent County Council. Medway includes the City of Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham. Medway is still considered a part of Kent with combined strategies and integrated services such as healthcare. This is why you might hear politicians speak of ‘Kent and Medway’ instead of just Kent.
The third vote you can make is one in the General Elections. General elections are a vote for your local Member of Parliament to represent your constituency in the House of Commons. Constituencies are sub-divided differently to local elections. There are 17 constituencies in Kent and Medway with some changing boundaries this year. To find your constituency, visit the Electoral Calculus map.
Do local elections influence general elections?
Local elections do not affect the outcome of general elections; however, as they have shorter and more varied cycles depending on locations, some local elections will likely take place during the run up to a general election and are often seen as a predictor of how people will vote in the general election. Though it’s easy to draw conclusions, you can’t rely on these predictions because turnout for local elections is far less (around 35.9% of the electorate) than general elections (around 67.3%) so every vote really does matter.
How does a law get passed?
First, to understand how a law gets passed, it’s important to know how Parliament is structured.
Parliament is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons comprises 650 MPs who have been elected to represent areas of the UK known as constituencies. The House of Lords comprises around 800 unelected members known as Lords, appointed by the Queen (usually at the advice of the Prime Minister or the Lords Appointment Committee).
The role of the House of Lords is to make sure laws being passed are effective and fit for purpose. They can’t veto legislation, though – they can only delay it for one year. This wasn’t always the case; in the past, they could throw out legislation completely. This changed with the Parliament Acts in 1911 and 1949 which removed the power to veto and instead allowed them to delay bills for 2 years and then 1 year respectively.
It’s also important to understand the Salisbury Convention to grasp how a law gets passed. The Salisbury Convention, introduced in the 1940s, is an agreement between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, stating that if a piece of legislation is in the government’s manifesto, the House of Lords will not block it at the 2nd or 3rd reading. Today, then, the House of Lords have much less power than they once did but are still vital for serving as a ‘check’ on the government and proposed legislations.
So how is a law passed?
Most laws in the UK are introduced and passed by the government, but there are also private members’ bills, private bills, and hybrid bills.
For the sake of the majority of public bills, the process is usually as follows.
1. A Green Paper
This is the first step towards a piece of legislation – an introduction to the idea, which is usually vague and contains a variety of policy options. Its primary purpose is to create parliamentary discussion and a starting point for consultation. The government will usually consult citizens and public bodies that are most likely to be affected by it.
2. A White Paper
Once the relevant public parties have been consulted, a White Paper is formulated based on that consultation and released. It will contain more tangible policy proposals, and often a draft bill. Using this basis, changes are made before the bill is presented formally to parliament.
3. The first reading
The bill is proposed and read in a process known as the first reading, in which there is no debate.
4. The second reading
At this point, the House of Commons debates the proposed bill in parliament. Afterwards, MPs vote on whether the legislation should continue through to the committee stage.
5. Committee stage
If it succeeds, the bill goes to one of the committees in parliament for them to take a closer look at. The chairman of the committee decides which amendments will be discussed and voted on by the committee.
6. Report stage
The bill returns to the House of Commons so they can suggest amendments.
7. Third reading
The bill, with its proposed amendments, goes through a third reading stage. Typically, there is little debate at this point and the bill is voted on.
8. House of Lords
If the bill is successful in getting votes from MPs at the third reading, it goes through to the House of Lords for much the same process. Here, the bill will have a first reading, second reading, committee stage, report stage, and third reading once more.
9. Pingpong
If the House of Lords wants any changes made to the bill, it’s sent back to the House of Commons. They will debate on the changes. If they make any further changes, it’s then sent back to the House of Lords to agree to. The process continues until no more changes are made, with this process being known as ‘pingponging’.
If neither house can agree on the wording of the bill, the House of Commons has the final word.
10. Royal ascent
Once both houses have agreed on the wording of the bill, it gets sent to the monarch for royal ascent. It is convention that the monarch always gives their ascent.
Laws passed via private members’ bills
Although the vast majority of laws in the UK are introduced and passed by the government, non-government MPs (known as ‘backbenchers’) do have a chance at proposing a bill. A private members’ bill is one such way, but they are a challenge to get through.
What is a private members' bill & how does it work?
Many MPs use proposing a private members’ bill as a publicity opportunity or to raise awareness of an issue affecting their constituents. In this sense they can indirectly impact legislation (regardless of whether the proposed bill itself is successful).
There are limited slots for discussion of private members’ bills in the Commons timetable so if an MP wants to draft a bill, they submit it to a ballot. One week after State Opening (the first day of the new parliamentary session - a parliamentary year - or general election), the lot is drawn.
To enter the ‘contest’, MPs must head to the voting lobby of the House of Commons chamber, choose a number, and sign their name next to it.
In a formal ceremony, a draw is made by the Deputy Speaker, with the last drawn being the ‘winner’ or highest priority. They get the first choice of time slot in parliament and have the best chance of their bill making it into law. Numbers are drawn and the Speaker reads out the corresponding name. In this sense, it’s pure luck whether or not an MP’s number is drawn, and in what order.
For MPs who weren’t lucky in the ballot, they can queue at the office for one of the last remaining time slots on a first come, first served basis. This means that MPs often have to camp out for a chance. Even having a few minutes to speak can help an MP or party to show the things they care about and want to change, even if a bill never gets passed.
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