The Prime Minister has called a General Election to be held on Thursday 6 May.
Parliament will be dissolved on Monday 12 April.
The new Parliament will be summoned to meet on Tuesday 18 May, when the first business will be the election of the Speaker and the swearing-in of members. The State Opening will be the week after.
Background information
The timing of a General Election is at the discretion of the Prime Minister.
The PM asks the Queen to dissolve Parliament by Royal Proclamation. The election is then usually held 17 working days after the date of the Proclamation.
Since 1935 every General Election has been held on a Thursday.
The date of Parliament’s return reflects the wishes of the Speaker and the new arrangements proposed by the cross-party House of Commons Modernisation Committee in their June 2007 report “Revitalising the Chamber”. The Government accepted this recommendation.
