E-petition debate: Call an immediate general election

E-petition 727309

E-petition 727309 calls for a general election to be called. The petition’s author said: “We want an immediate general election to be held. We think the majority need and want change.”

The petition was open for six months and closed on 5 December 2025. It had received 1,059,231 signatures.

The UK Government’s response was published on the petition’s page on 11 August 2025. It said:

The Prime Minister can call a general election at a time of their choosing by requesting a dissolution of Parliament from the Sovereign within the five-year life of a Parliament. The Government was elected by the British people on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.

The response went on to say, “The Government will continue to deliver the manifesto of change that it was elected on.”

Full Fact, a registered charity and independent fact checking organisation, has produced a Government Tracker. It monitors progress on the government’s manifesto and other key pledges.

When is the next general election?

A general election is triggered by the dissolution of parliament. Dissolution is the official term for the end of a Parliament. At dissolution all the business in both Houses ends and all MPs vacate their seats in the House of Commons.
A general election would then be on the 25th working day after dissolution, as set out in the legislation setting out rules for holding a general election.

Under the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 the maximum length of a parliament is five years. Section 4 of the act says:

“If it has not been dissolved earlier, a Parliament dissolves at the beginning of the day that is the fifth anniversary of the day on which it first met.”

A parliament may be dissolved earlier at the time of the Prime Minister’s choosing. To do this the Prime Minister must make a request to the King to dissolve Parliament. By convention, if the Prime Minister makes such a request the King will grant it. The dissolution of parliament is a prerogative power.

The last possible day for the next general election is 15 August 2029.
The current parliament met first on 9 July 2024 to elect a Speaker. The fifth anniversary is therefore 9 July 2029. The 25th working day after the 9 July is Wednesday 15 August 2029.

There are two bank holidays in that period, one in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland. A bank holiday in any part of the UK is disregarded in the timetable across the whole of the UK. This is to prevent polling day being on different days in different parts of the country.

Polling day is Thursday by convention. Dissolution of parliament is timed so that polling day (the 25th working day after dissolution) falls on a Thursday.

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Footnotes