Election - what on earth? Explain to me please!

[HollyMollyDolly]

Ok this is quite embarrassing!

I've recently joined the Civil Service at the grand age of 35 and there's been a lot of talk about the election. So far, I've managed to excuse myself from the conversations because I have 0 idea what is happening.

I struggle a bit with anxiety so tend to avoid the news and I've never understood politics but now it seems I need to.

Can someone please explain to me, in stupid person terms, what's actually going on and why Rishi Sunaks latest announcement is a big deal?

If you are, say, administering benefits, or even working in a policy back office you don't need to be on the detail of what our American friends call Civics.

We only have the same evidence as you, as to whether or not all General Elections are in July.

So the UK has lots of levels of government:

There's the UK government at Westminster. That has your "standard issue" MPs. It includes the prime minister. It is voted in once every 4-5 years on average and includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Then there are the devolved governments: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These have their own parliaments which govern on certain areas - health for example, but not on foreign policy. They also have elections but at different times from Westminster.

Then there are regional mayors in England and local government across the UK. These deal with things like social care, road maintenance, bins, parks, housing. Different areas have different voting systems but generally at least some areas will have votes on these every year in May.

For the civil service, a new government (as we are potentially expecting) will mean new policies, scrapping old schemes, preparing new ones and at senior levels new working relationships, more work and more questions (as there will be new ministers). Ministers are MPs who are tasked with heading up a particular area (health is a big one, for example) and the civil service should work with them to implement government policies.

Are you on the electoral role @HollyMollyDolly so you can vote? Did you get a polling card for the local elections that happened earlier this month?

July is not a month in which elections are normally held. The last was in 1945 when Attlee won with a Labour landslide. The Scots are up in arms over the timing as their school holidays are late June and July; people will need to sort out postal votes.

In the period after 1979 April/May has been the regular time of year.

People who are engaged with politics get incredibly excited about elections. I wonder if the level of excitement and general buzz took you by surprise? If you've steered clear of politics before now?

Could you ask a friendly, helpful colleague who is knowledgeable on this subject to talk you through it all in a coffee break one day? That way you can pick their brains over the next couple of months as the process unfolds.

the post from @Ineffable23 is very clear. This is a general election for a new UK government. The Tories have now been in power for I think about 14 years, and in that time a lot has happened...they brought us Brexit, saw us through the pandemic, caused a lot of financial upset with a mini budget...and so on.

As a civil servant, the government of the day sets the direction of the organisation I work for, our policies and priorities, and has a big impact on the general running of things. For example, the Tories recently brought in the requirement to work in the office 60% of the time and we are now undergoing changes to HR and a recruitment freeze to adhere to Government requirements on the size of the organisation. Polling suggests we may get a complete change of Government this time around - which would be a much more significant change than the conservatives continuing in a majority. So, there is a lot of interest in what this might mean for our work, and how the civil service is run more generally.

Well, the SNP are "up in arms" to about the same level as they are about everything.

If you look on the guardian website and click on General Election, there are lots of articles explaining your questions. For example I think this would answer your questions.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/22/why-is-rishi-sunak-calling-a-general-election-now-and-what-happens-next

I would read a few of those articles and then come back with more specific questions.

I was simply making an observation. I don't live in Scotland and have only limited engagement with politics north of the border but I think a significant shift from SNP to Labour will affect us all.

It was expected in May (along w local elections, so local party staff eg councillors could also mobilise) or October-November (latest possible time, after a budget potentially with tax cuts).

By choosing July Rishi has surprised everyone and appears be choosing the worst of all worlds (eg by now local councillors have lost their posts due to dire polling in the local elections, but no opportunity to have a budget).

@namechange1986
‘My mind is blown that you passed assessments for Civil Service but have no clue what an election means’

i don’t strictly work in the CS/public sector but spend most of my day dealing with them and this does not surprise me at all!

The last general election was in December 2019. They can be held at any time but as a minimum, every 5 years. This means that the Conservatives, as the party in power, have to call an election by December 2024.

December elections are not hugely typical and there has been much speculation as to whether Sunak would call this one earlier - the smart money was on mid-October at one point. But nobody really expected one before the autumn so this has come as a surprise.

It also effectively slows government down for a long time as there will be a period of purdah, election campaigning, then the election, then there’s usually a parliamentary recess in August, then party conference season in early autumn. So there could be almost four months where very little parliamentary business is done. It’s interesting timing.

@Dobest Scots does not equal SNP.

I'm Scottish and live in Scotland. Many, many ordinary people are pissed off at the timing.

Every Scot that can afford it is likely to be out of the country (we get cheaper holidays before rUK break up for summer).

Those that can't afford to leave the country may be elsewhere (so not in home voting area) on a cheaper holiday. Majority of Scottish schools break up around the last week of June.

I predict there will be a lower than usual turnout of voters in Scotland.

You are having a laugh, aren't you?

I think history proves that Scotland is needed to get a Labour Government at Westminster.

Making it harder to vote for the Scots puts that at risk. Very strategic by the Tories.

You don't really think a general election happens every year, do you?

People are getting excited because it’s very likely there will be a ‘new’ government ie it will be won by labour for the first time since 2010. There has to be a general election (as opposed to local elections which happen annually) at least every 5 years but in more settled times the ruling party (who expects to win again) will usually call one after 4 and usually this is in early May. The last one was after Theresa May’s brexit agreement fell through and she resigned - Boris Johnson then called an election to gain a ‘mandate’ for his own brexit agreement which was then somewhat bowled over by covid. So Rishi was going to have to call one by the end of the year and as things can’t really get any worse for him, it was widely believed that he’d wait until the last possible moment! That’s why yesterday was somewhat unexpected as they literally just got drubbed in the local elections 2 weeks ago.

I reckon Rishi’s got a nice summer holiday planned in Malibu 😂

At the risk of sounding snarky, there are postal and proxy votes available.

And it's not really a great characterisation of the Scottish people that they would rather have a cheap flight than vote (especially as it's not even a choice).

Presumably this will also mean that there could be a shortage of workforce available to staff the polling stations counts etc in Scotland as many will be away on pre-booked family holidays.

On the other side of the coin, most private schools in England will have broken up by then, so there well may be some Tory MPs wondering whether it's worth cancelling their summer holiday to bother fighting this election

@SerendipityJane oh I know that. I've voted by postal vote for over a decade now.

I'm thinking that with overall apathy to these important processes and so many other life things happening, people simply might not bother. Ultimately leading to/creating a situation with a lower than normal Scottish turn out. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@AshleyMadison I assumed Rishi had chosen this date as it coincided with his DD’s school holidays starting and he can go off for a long holiday and forget all about politics!

And/or move to the States and get his kids sorted in school by late August!