When does the election take place?
The election date of 12 December may adversely affect voter turnout as a result of the dark winter evenings hindering campaign efforts to reach the electorate in a bid to entice them into voting.
Across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England MPs shall be elected from 650 constituencies, each consisting of approximately 70,000 voters resulting in a total 46 million possible votes.
Candidates have to submit their nomination papers by November 14 in order to stand. Polling stations, some 40,000 in all, are usually set up in public buildings such as schools and community centres. In some areas, voters cast their ballot in mosques, temples and even pubs and restaurants.
The UK elections are carried out using the First-Past-The-Post system, whereby the candidates with the greatest number of votes are elected to the House of Commons. The party with more than half the MPs, 326, is asked by Her Majesty the Queen to form the new government, and the leader of said party is declared Prime Minister. If none of the parties win a majority there will be what is known as a ‘hung parliament’ necessitating a formation of a coalition government.
How many candidates are elected?
More than 60 MPs are leaving parliament altogether, including former Tory member Ken Clarke, the father of the House of Commons. Winston Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames is also leaving office after 35 years as an MP. Other significant politicians who are leaving politics include former Liberal Democrats leader Sir Vince Cable, John Bercow, the former house speaker and the Prime Minister’s brother, Jo Johnson.
A record number of women were elected in 2017; 208 in total or one in three MPs.
Two years later and to date 19 female MPs are not seeking re-election. Many have cited online abuse and threats as a key factor in their decision to stand aside. Other high-profile female MPs stepping down include Amber Rudd, Justine Greening, and Joan Ryan.
Conservative cabinet minister Nicky Morgan explained that she is quitting due to the “clear impact” on her family and “the other sacrifices involved in and the abuse for doing the job of a modern MP”.
How do the political parties view Brexit?
The Conservatives want to leave the EU by January 31 with the deal Boris Johnson renegotiated with the EU in October.
Labour has promised to hold a second referendum but Jeremy Corbyn has refused to say which side the party would support.
The Liberal Democrats have promised to cancel Brexit if they win and campaign for a second referendum if they don’t secure a majority.
The Brexit Party says Boris Johnson’s EU Withdrawal Deal will not deliver Brexit. Nigel Farage has offered a pact with the Tories if the Prime Minister drops his Brexit deal.
The Scottish National Party wants to stop Brexit altogether and hold a second Scottish independence referendum.
How are the public likely to vote?
According to recent polls, Boris Johnson has a significant lead over his rivals
The latest data collected by ICM for Reuters between 1 and 4 November shows that the Conservative party has 38% of support (+3) while Labour has 31% (+2)
The Liberal Democrats are on 15% (-1) and the Brexit Party lagging behind with 9% (-2) the Greens are on 3% (-1).
A total of 2,047 people were surveyed online about their voting intentions.
The public will get a chance to evaluate the two main contenders when Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn go head-to-head in a televised TV debate on ITV on 19 November. According to online pollster, YouGov, half of British voters (50%) consider TV debates important to the campaign.
Twitter recently announced that it will paid for political advertising on the social media platform ahead of the vote.
The decision has put pressure on Facebook because it continues to accept all adverts paid for by politicians – even those that are misleading.
You Gov polling suggests 35%of all voters believe online media campaigns play an important part in the election. 50% of voters aged 18 to 24 selected online campaigns as significantly more important to TV debates.
Source:Press TV
