2024 general election: What happens when the polls close?
The Library will be publishing verified results around a week after the 2024 general election. This Insight explains how votes are counted and results declared.
On this page
Overview
The UK general election took place on 4 July 2024. Bookmark this page for the latest impartial research and analysis of the results, explainers of what happens next, demographics and more. We will be updating this page regularly with our latest election-related content.
General election 2024 results
Download a list of successful and non-returned candidates for the UK Parliament general election on 4 July 2024.
The 2024 general election
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Who stood in the 2024 general election?
Over one thousand more parliamentary candidates stood in 2024 than in 2019, with most constituencies having six or seven candidates.
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2024 general election: How many women were elected?
The number of women in the House of Commons has been increasing over the last century. Of the 330 MPs elected for the first time in 2024, 129 were women.
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2024 general election: By-elections in the last Parliament
Of the 23 MPs that won by-elections in the 2019–24 Parliament, 18 won seats in the 2024 general election.
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2024 general election: Independents and minor parties
More independent and minor party candidates stood in the 2024 general election than in 2019.
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2024 general election: Performance of Reform and the Greens
Reform UK won five seats in 2024 and the Green Party won four seats, which were records for their parties. But both won a larger share of votes than seats.
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General election 2024 results
Full results and analysis of the 4th July 2024 general election, where Labour won a majority in Parliament
Parliament after the general election
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What happens in the Commons after the general election?
After a general election, MPs must elect a Speaker and then swear in. After the King’s Speech opens the parliamentary session, Commons business can begin.
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How is a Speaker elected?
Business cannot begin in the House of Commons until it has elected one of its MPs to be Speaker – its presiding officer.
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What is the Parliamentary Oath?
If an MP tries to take part in Commons business without having taken the Parliamentary Oath, they can be fined and it can trigger a by-election.
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How are life peers created?
Most members of the House of Lords are life peers, rather than hereditary peers or Lords Spiritual. What is the process for creating new life peerages?
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How is a Prime Minister appointed?
The Monarch appoints a Prime Minister under the royal prerogative, although the process is a very private event.
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How is a government formed?
The Prime Minister advises the Monarch who should become members of the government. By convention, ministers will be MPs or members of the House of Lords.
Boundary changes
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Constituency boundary review: Data for new constituencies
Get demographic data for the new constituency boundaries and find out when more data might become available.
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Boundary review 2023: Which seats will change in the UK?
This Insight looks at how constituency boundaries will change in the UK, and provides maps to view how the current constituencies relate to new ones.
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Constituency boundary reviews and the number of MPs
This briefing summarises the rules and procedures for boundary changes for parliamentary constituencies. It also examines how the number of constituencies and MPs have changed over time.
Past election results
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UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023: A century of elections
This briefing gives an overview of UK election results since 1918, including for the UK Parliament, European Parliament, devolved legislatures and local government.
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Local election 2023: Results and analysis
This briefing summarises the results of the 2023 local elections in England and Northern Ireland, when Labour and Sinn Fein became the largest parties in local government.
Briefings from POST
Election Results site
The House of Commons Library collects and verifies election returns from local authorities before publishing Parliament's definitive results, around 12 July.