UK election: What happens next? And what's it got to do with the King?

What happens after a UK election?

While the run-up to UK general elections can take months or even years, the bureaucratic logistics after the vote are usually tidied up surprisingly quickly –often within a couple of working days.

If the previous ruling party retains a majority of the 650 seats in the House of Commons – the publicly-elected lower chamber in the UK's bicameral legislature – then it will continue in office. 

If an opposition party wins a majority, the change has to be approved by the monarch. In a carefully choreographed sequence of events the day after the election, the previous prime minister will visit the monarch to resign, both personally and on behalf of his or her government. Soon after, the monarch will receive the leader of the victors, who will be asked to form a new government. 

What if there's no majority?

If no single party wins the 326 seats required for a Commons majority – known as a 'hung parliament' – things can take a little longer. 

Even if it did not win the most seats, the party that formed the previous government has the right to remain in office until the new parliament can meet. The idea is that the party can attempt to form some sort of coalition or voting agreement to form a majority – essential as the opposition will understandably propose a 'vote of no confidence'. 

If the former government cannot form such an agreement or loses a vote of no confidence, the leader will resign and the monarch will invite the leader of the largest opposition party to try to form a coalition – or function as a minority government. This happened in February 1974, when the previously ruling Conservatives won fewer seats than Labour then failed to agree coalition terms with the Liberals; Labour took office in minority and quickly strengthened its position via a second election.

In 2010, the Conservatives won the most seats but without a majority, and formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. In 2017, Conservative leader Theresa May's attempt to shore up a narrow majority with a snap election backfired as her party won fewer than half the seats, meaning she had to form a fragile 'confidence and supply' agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. 

But let's get back to the timeline.

Speaker selection and swearing-in

Assuming there's no hung parliament, at some point on the Friday the prime minister will be driven away from meeting the monarch. While the business of government – arranging meetings, contacting world leaders, moving staff into offices - will begin immediately, the next parliamentary business will usually be the Tuesday following the election. Indeed, in 2024, Tuesday July 9 is pegged as the return to parliament. 

At that first meeting, the MPs will choose a Speaker. The presiding officer and quasi-referee, the Speaker must be an elected MP; if the incumbent was re-elected as MP and wishes to continue as Speaker, they are usually quickly approved by the new MPs. Although their terms of office are not connected to the party of government, Speakers tend to alternate between the two main parties, Conservative and Labour.

MPs will then be sworn in, pledging their allegiance to the monarch. The pledge is required by law; without it, MPs are not allowed to partake in debates or votes, will not receive their salary, can be fined £500 ($633, the same amount as originally set in 1701), and can lose their seat. MPs elected for the Irish republican party Sinn Fein have historically never taken up their seats in parliament. 

MPs are sworn in – at a table in the center of the Commons chamber –  in a strict order: first the Speaker, then the longest-serving male MP, members of the cabinet and shadow (opposition) cabinet, and then any remaining members of the Privy Council (a band of senior MPs who advise the monarch). After that it's the backbench MPs, in order of time served, with newcomers waiting the longest. 

King's Speech and State Opening

Once all the MPs are sworn in, the next major piece of business is the State Opening of Parliament - pegged this year for Wednesday July 17. 

The State Opening marks the start of the parliamentary session and is the only regular occasion on which the Commons MPs, House of Lords members and the sovereign all meet. As such, it is drenched in the usual British pomp and circumstance. 

It centers on the Monarch's Speech, which essentially consists of the new government's plans for the parliamentary session. It's a chance for the incoming government – whether re-elected or freshly mandated – to formally announce its intentions… and in the ensuing vote, for MPs to demonstrate their confidence or otherwise, as a new parliament begins its life.

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