2015 United Kingdom General Election May 07,2015

The United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held on 7 May 2015, to elect the 56th Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (as amended by the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 ) mandates dissolution of the present 55th Parliament on 30 March 2015 and provides that the election will be held on 7 May, unless the House of Commons votes for an earlier date

In UK general elections, voting takes place in all Parliamentary Constituencies of the United Kingdom to elect Members of Parliament(MPs) to seats in the House of Commons - Lower House of the Parliament

The 2015 general election will be contested using the same constituencies and boundaries as in 2010

The election sees the first cap on spending by parties in individual constituencies during the 100 days before Parliament's dissolution on 30 March: £30,700, plus a per-voter allowance of 9p in county constituencies and 6p in borough seats. An additional voter allowance of more than £8,700 is available after the dissolution of Parliament

This will be the first UK general election using individual rather than household voter registration. The change in registration system has been accompanied by a drop of almost 1 million in the number of registered voters

The Conservatives and Labour have been the two biggest parties since 1922 

The Liberal Democrats have been the third party in the UK for many years.Had won 56 seats in the 2010 Election

• Conservative Party: led by David Cameron, the current prime minister. The Conservatives are the larger party in the coalition government, having won 306 seats in the 2010 Election
• Labour Party: led by Ed Miliband.Had won 256 seats in the 2010 Election. Labour had been in power from 1997-2010.

Parties Position in the Outgoing Parliament

Conservative                  302
Labour                           256
Liberal Democrat              56
DUP                                 08
SNP                                  06
UKIP                                 02
Green                                 01
Speaker                              01
Independents                      05
Others                                13
Total                                 650   
                           
Others

What the Parties Say

• Conservatives: David Cameron has repeatedly said he wants a Conservative majority government after the election
• Labour : Ed Miliband has ruled out a coalition or a confidence and supply deal with the SNP or Plaid Cymru. But a vote-by-vote arrangement appears to still be on the table; Labour's shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said on Friday that "of course" a Labour minority government would talk to other parties.
• Liberal Democrats: The Lib Dems have based much of their election pitch on being in coalition after the election, saying they would be the Conservatives' heart and Labour's head. But Nick Clegg has ruled out any deal that would mean the SNP or UKIP holding the government "hostage"
• SNP: Nicola Sturgeon has said her party will not put the Conservatives in power and has offered to do a deal with Ed Miliband on a number of occasions. She has also said she wants to work with the Greens and Plaid Cymru to build a "progressive alliance"
• DUP: The DUP has said it is prepared to work with either the Conservatives or Labour after the election, but not in a formal coalition. It has also ruled out being part of a deal with a government that is "captive to a separatist party"
• UKIP: Nigel Farage said earlier this year that his party won't enter a formal coalition. UKIP has said it will not deal with the Labour Party because of its opposition to a referendum on EU membership. But it is prepared to do a deal with the Conservatives and possibly support a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition if its guarantees a referendum on Europe, says Mr Farage
• Plaid Cymru: Like the SNP, Plaid has ruled out any deal involving the Conservatives. But leader Leanne Wood has said a deal with Labour is possible
• Greens: The Greens have said they won't enter into any formal coalition. The party has also ruled out doing anything that will put the Tories into power