Election Day

Election Day in the United Kingdom is by convention a Thursday. Polls in the United Kingdom open at 7:00 and close at 22:00. General elections It has been suggested that this tradition arose as the best of several circumstances: Friday pay-packets would lead to more drunken voters on Fridays and weekends; having the election as far after a Sunday as possible would reduce the influence of Sunday sermons; many towns held markets on Thursdays, thus the local population would be travelling to town that day anyway. Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 before it was repealed in 2022, all future General Elections took place on the first Thursday in May every five years, barring special circumstances. The decision was taken by two-thirds majority of the House of Commons, or is legally determined through the act as the first Thursday in May every 5 years.