Editing General election (section)

==United Kingdom==
{{Main|Elections in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom general elections overview}}

The term ''general election'' in the United Kingdom often refers to the elections held on the same day in all constituencies of their [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|members of Parliament]] (MPs) to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}

Historically, English and later British general elections took place over a period of several weeks, with individual constituencies holding polling on different days. However, from the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 election]] onwards, the elections in all constituencies have been held on the same day. There has been a convention since the 1930s that general elections in Britain should take place on a Thursday; the last general election to take place on any other weekday was that of [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931]].<ref>{{cite web |title=General elections - UK Parliament |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/general/ |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref>

Under the terms of the [[Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011]], in force until March 2022, the period between one general election and the next was fixed at five years, unless the House of Commons passed one of the following:
* A motion of no confidence in the Government sooner than that, and did not pass a motion of confidence in a new Government within fourteen days<ref name="FTPA">{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/14/enacted |title=Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 as enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref>
* A motion, approved by two-thirds of its members, resolving that a general election should take place sooner<ref name="FTPA" />
* A [[Statutory instrument (UK)|proposal]] from the prime minister to reschedule an election mandated by the Act to no later than two months after the original date<ref name="FTPA" />

Although not provided for in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, an early election could also be brought about by an act of parliament specifically calling for a general election, which (unlike the second option above) only required a simple majority.{{cn|date=March 2024}} This was the mechanism used to precipitate the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|December 2019 election]], when the [[Early Parliamentary General Election Act 2019]] was enacted.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rob |last=Pichetal |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/29/uk/uk-general-election-vote-gbr-intl/index.html |title=Britain set for December 12 election after MPs approve snap poll |work=[[Cable News Network]] |date=29 October 2019 |access-date=31 July 2022}}</ref>

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was repealed by the [[Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Merrick |first=Rob |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/queens-speech-snap-election-bill-b1845437.html |title=Boris Johnson Grabs Back Power to Call Snap General Election By Scrapping Fixed Five-Year Terms |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=11 May 2021 |access-date=31 July 2022 }}</ref>

The term ''general election'' is also used in the United Kingdom to refer to elections to any democratically elected body in which all members are up for election.{{cn|date=March 2024}} Section 2 of the [[Scotland Act 1998]], for example, specifically refers to ordinary elections to the Scottish Parliament as general elections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scotland Act 1998 |url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/ukpga_19980046_en_2#pt1-pb2-l1g2 }}</ref>{{request quotation|date=March 2024}}