UK General Elections
A General Election in the UK follows the dissolution of Parliament by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of the day. The Prime Minister thus has the power to choose the date of the election. Thursday has been the customary day to hold elections since the 1930s.
Historically, elections took place over the course of a four-week period until 1918. Election days were then as follows:
- 14 December 1918 - Saturday
- 15 November 1922 - Wednesday
- 6 December 1923 - Thursday
- 29 October 1924 - Wednesday
- 30 May 1929 - Thursday
- 27 October 1931 - Tuesday
- 14 October 1935 - Thursday
and elections have been on Thursdays since then:
- 5 July 1945
- 23 February 1950
- 25 October 1951
- 26 May 1955
- 8 October 1959
- 15 October 1964
- 31 March 1966
- 18 June 1970
- 28 February 1974
- 10 October 1974
- 3 May 1979
- 9 June 1983
- 11 June 1987
- 9 April 1992
- 1 May 1997
- 7 June 2001
- 5 May 2005
- 6 May 2010
Read more about this topic: Election Day (United Kingdom)
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