What is a general election and how many MPs are there?
The general election is to elect Members of Parliament – or MPs – to the House of Commons.
The UK is divided into 650 areas, called constituencies, and each of these elects one MP to represent local residents at Westminster.
In Nottingham City, there are three constituencies:
Nottingham East covers Berridge, Castle, Dales,Hyson Green & Arboretum, Mapperley, Sherwood and Stann’s
Nottingham North and Kimberley (Previously Nottingham North) is a new constituency that includes Aspley, Basford, Bestwood, Bulwell, Bulwell Forest and Leen Valley and now includes Kimberley, Nuthall East and Strelley and Watnall and Nuthall West.
Nottingham South includes these wards: , Bilborough Clifton East, Clifton West, Lenton and Wollaton East, Meadows, Radford and Wollaton West.
How does voting work?
In a general election, each person has one vote.
On election day, registered voters in each constituency vote for their preferred candidate in their local polling station. Some people vote by post in advance.
Under a system called “first past the post”, the candidate who gets the most votes becomes the MP for that area.
How can I find out about my constituency?
This election will be fought on new constituency boundaries, redrawn to reflect population changes and to try to even out voter numbers in each area.
You can put your postcode into the election finder from the Electoral Commission here and they will tell you which constituency you are in.
Who can vote and how old do you have to be?
Anyone on the electoral register aged 18 or over on polling day can vote in the general election as long as they are a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a Republic of Ireland citizen with a UK address.
All UK citizens who live abroad can register to vote in the constituency where they were previously resident or on the electoral roll as long as they are not legally excluded from voting.
The deadline to register to vote in the general election is 23:59 BST on Tuesday 18 June. Click here to register to vote.
How can I vote if I am on holiday?
Polling stations are open between 7am and 10pm on election day.
If you have already registered and know that you will not be able to vote in person, you can apply for a postal vote here.
It does not matter whether this is because you will be on holiday, working or simply find mailing your vote more convenient.
You will need to prove your identity when applying.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote for the general election is 5pm on Wednesday 19 June.
Instead of postal voting, you can nominate a proxy, which is someone who can vote on your behalf. You and your proxy must both be registered to vote and you can apply for proxy voting here.
The deadline to apply for a proxy vote for the general election is 5pm on Wednesday 26 June.
You can also request an emergency proxy vote after this deadline if last-minute work commitments or a medical emergency mean you cannot vote in person. You can apply for this up to 5pm on polling day.
Will I need photo ID to vote at the general election?
Yes. Since May 2023, voters have to show a valid form of photo ID at polling stations to vote in person at a general election.
There are 22 acceptable forms of ID, including:
- passports
- driving licences
- Older or Disabled Person’s bus passes
- Oyster 60+ cards
You can use out-of-date photo ID as long as you look the same.
Alternatively, anyone registered to vote without the correct ID – or who no longer looks like their photo – can apply for a free document called a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’ here.
The deadline to apply for a voter authority certificate to use in the general election is 5pm on Wednesday 26 June.
If your photo ID is either lost or damaged after this deadline, you can apply for an emergency proxy vote, external up until 5pm on polling day.