Elections

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on elections. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

DateDescription
19.07.2013Timetables for the UK Parliamentary General election
This Note sets out the timetable for a general election on 7 May 2015, as provided for under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 extended the length of the timetable to 25 working days. There is no date for the commencement of these provisions.
19.07.2013By-election timetables
This Note gives details of model timetables for by-elections.
18.07.2013Recall Elections
Recall is a term used to describe a process whereby the electorate can petition to trigger a vote on the suitability of an existing elected representative to continue in office. There is no recall procedure in the UK. The Government has stated that it will legislate to introduce a power of recall. This note explains the process of recall as commonly understood and briefly examines its usage in different countries.
16.07.2013The Budget and the annual Finance Bill
This note discusses the way that Parliament scrutinises the Government's proposals for taxation, set out in the annual Budget statement. It looks at how this procedure may be affected by the timing of a General Election, and gives some suggestions for further reading.
10.07.2013Electoral Statistics 2012
This note provides data on electorates of parliamentary constituencies at December 2011. There were 46.3 million people registered to vote in UK parliamentary elections at 1 December 2012, an increase of 247,000 on December 2011.

Research Papers

DateDescription
25.07.2013The Quebec referendums
This paper gives a brief outline of separatism in Quebec, showing that many of the arguments in Canada are already being echoed in the debate about Scotland's future relationship with the rest of the UK.
28.06.2013European Union (Referendum) Bill
This Private Member's Bill was introduced to the Commons on 19 June 2013 and is designed to require the holding of a referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Union (EU) before the end of 2017. This Paper has been prepared as a guide in advance of the second reading on Friday 5 July.
15.05.2013Election Timetables
This Research Paper sets out the model timetables for Parliamentary general elections and by-elections.
01.03.2013The History of the Parliamentary Franchise
This paper gives a history of the Parliamentary franchise and shows the incremental stages which led to universal suffrage across the UK by drawing on several of the recognised sources which have dealt with the subject and by referring to the key legislation.
06.12.2012Pakistan in 2013
2013 will be another important year for Pakistan. Federal and provincial elections will be held during the first half of the year. If, as seems increasingly likely, the Pakistan People's Party-led Government sees out its full term in office and hands over to a civilian successor, it will be the first time in Pakistan's history that this has happened. But the political and economic situation remains highly volatile and unpredictable.

Select Committee Reports

DateDescription
11.01.2012Constitution Select Committee (HL) twenty-third report on Voting at the close of poll.
Constitution Select Committee (HL) report [Lords]
22.11.2011Political party finance: ending the big donor culture.
Committee on Standards in Public Life report [Commons]
04.03.2011Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill.
Government response. Deputy Prime Minister report [Commons]
31.01.2011Work of the Committee in 2010.
Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission report [Commons]
11.10.2010Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill.
Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

DateDescription
12.07.2011HATIP DICLE AND FELLOW MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
That this House notes the success of the 36 independent candidates of the Labour, Democracy and Freedom block supported by the Kurdish population in the Turkish general election on ...
23.03.2011BURMA AND THE EU
That this House notes that despite holding an election in November 2010, Burma has failed to meet the requests of the EU Common Position, last renewed on 26 April 2010, which called ...
01.03.2011IRISH GENERAL ELECTION RESULT
That this House notes the heavy defeat of the governing Fianna Fail party in the Irish General Election; further notes the loss of all the seats in the Dail of its junior partner, the ...
01.02.2011STOKE-ON-TRENT (ELECTORAL CHANGES) ORDER 2011
That this House notes that the Stoke-on-Trent (Electoral Changes) Order 2011 seeks to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Commission's review of electoral arrangements for ...
24.01.2011SOUTH SUDAN REFERENDUM AND PEACE CAMPAIGNING BY EMMANUEL JAL
That this House notes the peaceful South Sudan independence referendum which took place between 9 January and 15 January 2011; welcomes the fact that the referendum's validity threshold ...

Glossary

  • Research Papers (RP) - briefings produced by the House of Commons Library on Bills, topical issues and regular statistics
  • Standard Notes (SN) - shorter, topical briefings from the Commons Library
  • Early Day Motions (EDMs) - formal motions submitted by MPs in the House of Commons
  • POST Notes - short briefing notes produced by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology
  • Lords Library Notes (LLN) - papers compiled by the House of Lords Library on Bills and for debates in the Lords