How Voting Works

As a British citizen or eligible resident aged 18+ you have the Right to vote in elections. Elections can happen on both a local and national level. General elections (also known as national elections) decide which political party will be in power, whichever party has the most MP’s across the 650 constituencies, their leader becomes Prime Minister. As for local elections you are voting for the various different councillors who will then make up the local/city council.

General Election

So instead of voting for the Prime Minister directly, voters choose a candidate to represent their local Constituency.

UK parliamentary elections use the first-past-the-post system.

Forming the government

After all 650 constituencies declare results:

• Each winning candidate becomes an MP in the House of Commons.
• The political party with the most MPs usually forms the government.
• The leader of that party typically becomes Prime Minister.

To have a majority government, a party normally needs more than half the seats (326+).

Local Election

The UK also has other elections that may use different systems, such as:

• Local council elections
• Elections to the Scottish Parliament
• Elections to Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament)
• Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly

Some of these use different voting methods like ranked or mixed systems instead of first-past-the-post.

On a national level, you get to vote in general elections, which typically happen around every 5 years, although the government may decide to call a general election early. Similarly to local elections, you will vote for one candidate that represents a party, or acts as an independent. Whoever gains the most votes in your Constituency will then become the local Member of Parliament. From there, every MP will be counted up, and whichever party has the most MP’s, will then gain control of the government. Unlike in many other countries, the UK uses the first past the post system, meaning that the government is not decided on the total number of votes that they receive, but rather the total number of MP’s they have, and thus how many constituencies they control. As a result of this system, it is possible for a party to gain control of the government, without receiving the most votes across the UK. For example, the current Labour government under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, was elected to government in the July 2024 general election, with only around 33% of the total vote share, while winning around 63% of the total seats in parliament.

There are however changes coming to the electoral system. On the 2^nd March 2026, the Labour government proposed the “Representation of the people” bill. The bill aims to lower the minimum voting age in the UK to 16. On the gov.uk page regarding the bill, the government states the following.

“Young people represent the future of our country. Decisions the government makes now will not only affect young people today but will have an enduring impact on their entire lives. As such, it’s only Right and fair that younger people be able to vote. Further, by engaging voters early, when they are young, and allowing them to have a say in shaping their future, we will build the foundations for their lifelong participation in our electoral processes.”

The different Voting Systems