Election in UK

Description of election in UK........

The cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Rt. Hon. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, heads a coalition with the UK's third party, the Liberal Democrats. Cameron has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 11 May 2010.For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into 650 constituencies,each electing a single member of parliament by simple plurality. 

General elections are called by the monarch when the prime minister so advises. The Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 require that a new election must be called no later than five years after the previous general election.The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. During the 2010 general election these three parties won 622 out of 650 seats available in the House of Commons.Most of the remaining seats were won by parties that contest elections only in one part of the UK: the Scottish National Party (Scotland only); Plaid Cymru (Wales only); and the Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland only, though Sinn Féin also contests elections in the Republic of Ireland). In accordance with party policy, no elected Sinn Féin members of parliament have ever attended the House of Commons to speak on behalf of their constituents because of the requirement to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch.

The current five Sinn Féin MPs have, however, made use of offices and other facilities available at Westminster.For elections to the European Parliament, the UK currently has 72 MEPs, elected in 12 multi-member constituencies.MPs are elected from a choice of candidates by a simple majority system in which each person casts one vote. The candidate with the most votes then becomes the MP for that constituency.

Candidates may be from a political party registered with the Electoral Commission or they may stand as an 'Independent' rather than represent a registered party.After a general election has taken place and the vote has been counted, the Returning Officer for that constituency declares the result.

He or she also sends the name of the elected candidate to the Clerk of the Crown at the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry produces the White Book, a list of all Members of the new Parliament, which is brought to the Chamber on the first day the Parliament sits. The election results then appear in the London Gazette.