2017 United Kingdom general election facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
2017 United Kingdom general election

← 2015 8 June 2017 2019 →
← List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2015 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 2017 →
All 650 seats in the House of Commons 326 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	68.8% (2.5%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Theresa May Jeremy Corbyn Nicola Sturgeon Party Conservative Labour SNP Leader since 11 July 2016 12 September 2015 14 November 2014 Leader's seat Maidenhead Islington North Did not stand Last election 330 seats, 36.9% 232 seats, 30.4% 56 seats, 4.7% Seats won 317 262 35 Seat change 13 30 21 Popular vote 13,636,684 12,878,460 977,569 Percentage 42.4% 40.0% 3.0% Swing 5.5% 9.6% 1.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Tim Farron Arlene Foster Gerry Adams Party Liberal Democrat Democratic Unionist Sinn Féin Leader since 16 July 2015 17 December 2015 13 November 1983 Leader's seat Westmorland and Lonsdale Did not stand Did not stand Last election 8 seats, 7.9% 8 seats, 0.6% 4 seats, 0.6% Seats won 12 10 7 Seat change 4 2 3 Popular vote 2,371,910 292,316 238,915 Percentage 7.4% 0.9% 0.7% Swing 0.5% 0.3% 0.1%
A map of UK parliamentary constituencies * Figure does not include the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, who was included in the Conservative seat total by some media outlets.
Prime Minister before election Theresa May Conservative Appointed Prime Minister Theresa May Conservative

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2017. During a general election, people vote to choose who will represent them in the House of Commons. This is an important part of the UK's Parliament. All 650 members of Parliament (MPs) were elected.

The election ended in a hung parliament. This means no single political party won enough seats to have a clear majority on its own. The Conservative Party won the most seats, but they did not win more than half of all the seats. To form a government, they made an agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party. This agreement was called a confidence-and-supply deal. It meant the Democratic Unionist Party would support the Conservatives on important votes.

After the election, Theresa May remained the Prime Minister. The Labour Party gained many seats from the Conservatives. This was the first time Labour had gained seats in a general election since 1997. The election happened earlier than planned because Parliament voted for a snap election. This decision was made after the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Why the Election Happened Early

The next general election was originally planned for 8 May 2020. However, Prime Minister Theresa May decided to call an early election. On 18 April 2017, she announced her wish for an election on 8 June. The House of Commons voted to approve this plan the next day, on 19 April 2017. This allowed the election to take place in June 2017.

Election Results

When the election was first announced, the Conservative Party was far ahead in opinion polls. Many people expected them to win by a very large amount. However, as the election campaign continued, the Labour Party gained more support. The gap between the two main parties became much smaller. In the end, the Conservatives lost their overall majority in the House of Commons.

What an Exit Poll Is

An exit poll is a survey taken on election day. People are asked how they voted right after they leave the polling station. Major news channels like BBC News, ITV, and Sky News use these polls. They help predict the election results before all the votes are counted. At 10 PM on election night, these channels released their exit poll predictions. The poll suggested the Conservatives would win the most seats but lose their majority.

Final Election Results

The final results of the election were very similar to what the exit poll predicted. Here's how many seats the main parties won:

• Conservative Party - 317 seats (down 13 seats from the last election)
• Labour Party - 262 seats (up 30 seats)
• Scottish National Party - 35 seats (down 21 seats)
• Liberal Democrats - 12 seats (up 4 seats)
• Plaid Cymru - 3 seats (no change)
• Green Party - 1 seat (no change)
• United Kingdom Independence Party - 0 seats (down 1 seat)
• Other parties - 18 seats

Some well-known politicians lost their seats in this election. These included former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Also, Alex Salmond, a former First Minister of Scotland, lost his seat. The leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons, Angus Robertson, also lost.

Images for kids

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  A polling station in north London

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  Campaigning on polling day, 8 June 2017

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  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launching the party's general election campaign on 9 May 2017 in Manchester.

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  Conservative—

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  The disproportionality of parliament in the 2017 election was 6.45 using the Gallagher Index.

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  Election results showing the best-performing party in each constituency, other than Conservative or Labour.

See also

In Spanish: Elecciones generales del Reino Unido de 2017 para niños