General Elections

There are two Parliamentary Elections in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The River Thames divides Twickenham Constituency from Richmond Park Constituency and part of Richmond Park is in the Royal Borough of Kingston.

What is a General Election?

Registered voters choose a person to represent their Constituency in Parliament. Most candidates are from a political party but there can also be independents. After the election, the leader of the party with the most MPs is asked by the Queen to become Prime Minister and form a government to run the country. The leader of the party with the second highest number of MPs becomes the Leader of the Opposition.

A general election must take place at least every five years, but often an election will be called earlier than that. The Prime Minister decides the exact date of an election but there must be at least 17 working days between when an election is called and election day itself, which traditionally takes place on a Thursday.

UK Parliament

The UK Parliament is made up of two chambers or ‘Houses’ – the House of Commons and the House of Lords.The House of Commons has 646 Members of Parliament (MPs) who each represent their local area of the UK, called a ‘constituency’ or ‘seat’. The political party with the most MPs in the House of Commons forms the Government. The Government proposes new laws and raises issues for Parliament to debate. It also puts into action the decisions made by Parliament.

The House of Lords has around 700 unelected members who scrutinise the work of the House of Commons. Before 1999, the House of Lords was mostly made up of hereditary peers who inherited their title through their family. After 1999, the House of Lords was reformed so the majority of Lords are now ‘life peers’. This means they are appointed for their knowledge or experience in a particular field but do not pass on their title.

Who can vote?

You can vote in UK Parliamentary Elections once you are on the current electoral register and provided that you are also:

• Aged 18 or over on polling day
• A British citizen, or a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Irish Republic (and resident in the United Kingdom)
• Not subject to any legal incapacity to vote (for example, if you are in prison)

At a General Election, the following people cannot vote:

• Anyone under 18 years old
• Members of the House of Lords, including life peers, Church of England archbishops and bishops, and hereditary peers who have retained their seat in the House of Lords (these people can, vote at elections to local authorities, devolved legislatures and the European Parliament)
• European Union citizens - they can, however, vote at local government, devolved legislature and European parliamentary election level
• Citizens of any country apart from the Irish Republic and Commonwealth countries
• Convicted persons detained in pursuance of their sentences - although remand prisoners, unconvicted prisoners and civil prisoners in default of fine or breach of 'recognisance' (an obligation to the court or magistrate) can vote if they are on the electoral register
• Anyone found guilty within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election

May 2005 General Election results

• Election result for Richmond Park constituency, 5 May 2005
• Election result for Twickenham constituency, 5 May 2005