Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Understandable English Podcast.
And today I will be talking about the UK general election.
So I'm going to explain what that means, what it is and how the electoral system, so the voting system, or the democracy that we have in the UK, works.
So I'm going to explain the process and a little bit about this election in the UK.
So after listening to this podcast, you will understand how our system works in the UK, how voting works and a little bit about this important election which is coming up soon.
Okay, so the next big election in the UK is coming up on July the 4th.
So the 4th of July.
So in the UK, the election process is a big part of our democracy.
It's the time when citizens across the nation come together to make their voices heard and to try and make change in government.
So they vote for the party or the members of parliament that they think will best represent their views.
So represent, it basically is the most similar to their views or beliefs.
And that's the people that you should vote for.
So how does it work?
Well, let's start with the basics.
The UK operates under a parliamentary system.
And what this means is that voters so the people, the public don't directly vote for the prime minister.
The prime minister is sort of the head of parliament and the head of the country, but instead we vote for Members of Parliament, or as I call them, and most people call them MPs for short.
An MP means Member of Parliament and these members represent or are for different areas of the UK.
And the UK is mapped out or divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies.
And what that means is that there are 650 places for members of parliament.
And in each of these 650 people vote for the person that they want to represent their area in parliament.
To pass laws and to vote on new laws and to really try to make a change in the country.
These areas are different in size and demographics, but each one of these areas has roughly or approximately the same amount of voters or people within them.
When it is election day.
So the day that we vote, illegible or people who are able to vote head to their local polling or voting station and they cast their ballots.
What does that mean, to cast your ballot?
That means to vote.
We vote on a piece of paper and this piece of paper is called a ballot.
And when they're voting on their ballot, they vote for a candidate or a person who is wanting to become an MP or a member of parliament, usually a member of a political party.
Although there are also some independent candidates that stand in many areas.
And these are candidates or people who do not represent a political party.
They represent themselves.
And during the day you can turn up and vote from morning until evening.
And once the polls or the voting closes and finishes, this is where the real drama and excitement begins.
The votes are counted, so people count up how many votes are for each person and the candidate with the most votes becomes the Member of Parliament or MP for that area.
And they represent all the people from their area in the House of Commons, which is the main law-making place in the UK.
This is the part where it can get quite interesting.
The party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons usually can make the government, so they form the government.
If one party gets an outright majority, so a clear majority, most of the seats, their leader, the party leader, will become the prime minister.
However, if no one party wins a clear majority or most of the votes and seats, it results in something that we call a hung parliament.
This is when one party can't make a government by themselves because they don't have a clear victory.
And in these cases parties have to negotiate or make a deal with one another to form a coalition government.
So when more than one party works together to make a majority, to make enough seats to form a government,
And in this government the largest party forms the government and the smaller parties support them and help.
That is the main process of how things in the UK work and how democracy here works.
Once a government has been made, or one party or a coalition government is made, the prime minister picks his ministers.
So people in charge of different areas.
For example, there could be a minister of health, a minister of defense, a minister for the economy.
There are all sorts of positions.
And the prime minister can even make new positions as well.
Okay, so now that we understand a little bit about how the process works.
I know it might be complicated with some of those words, but if you have any problems, just listen again to that part of the podcast and even have a read online in your own language about how the UK system, or political system, works.
But what about the next election?
So the election which is on the 4th of July.
Currently, the Conservative Party and their leader Rishi Sunak is in government.
So they are in charge of the UK government and they have 345 seats out of 650.
And the second largest party is the Labour Party, with their leader Keir Starmer.
And they have 206 seats in Parliament.
But a lot of people think, and it looks very clear, that in this election, this next election, there could be some big changes.
The polls.
So the predictions or ideas about this next election show that the Labour Party would likely win and the Conservative Party will lose.
This is because of a lot of different reasons.
From Brexit so the problems associated with Brexit to the issues around how our country dealt with the COVID pandemic, to lots and lots of problems within the Conservative Party.
They have changed their leader many times in the last few years.
So it will be very interesting to see how they do in this election.
And it could be a very, very big and changing election for the UK.
For the last 14 years, the Conservative Party has been in government.
They have been in charge of the UK.
So it will be the biggest change in a long time in my life to our government if they don't win this election.
But we will have to wait and see.
So keep an eye out and have a look at the results when they happen.
Thank you very much for listening to this episode of the Understandable English Podcast.
I hope it was interesting, informative and enjoyable for you.
Thank you for listening and have a great day.
I'll talk to you soon.
