UK Prime Minister expected to call general election for July 4

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to call a general election on July 4, with Parliament to be dissolved next week.

Mr Sunak is said to be informing his cabinet of his plans before announcing on Wednesday evening as people across the UK recently voted in local elections.

What do you need to do to prepare for the upcoming general election?

Here is what you need to do to take part.

How to register to vote
You will need to register to vote. According to the Electoral Commission, 18 per cent of London’s eligible adults were not on the electoral register in 2022.

Data showed that young people; black, Asian, minority ethnic and migrant Londoners, as well as private and social renters were all underrepresented on the electoral register.

The Greater London Authority has backed a motion to increase communication to get all voters registered in time for the election.

To register to vote, visit the government’s website.

You will receive a poll card nearer the time with details of the upcoming election and where to go to vote.

What forms of ID will be accepted?

Voters in England will need to show photo identification to vote at polling stations in some elections.

This applies to; UK parliamentary elections, including general elections, byelections and recall petitions, Local elections and byelections, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

The Electoral Commission has a list of accepted forms of ID, which includes: a UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence (full or provisional); a driving licence issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands; a UK passport; a passport issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or a Commonwealth country; a PASS card (National Proof of Age Standards Scheme); a Blue Badge; a biometric residence permit (BRP); a defence identity card (MoD form 90); a national identity card issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein; a Northern Ireland electoral identity card; a voter authority certificate; and an anonymous elector’s document.

Travel passes are also acceptable forms of ID, including the following: an older person’s bus pass; a disabled person’s bus pass; an Oyster 60+ card; a freedom pass; a Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC); a 60-and-over Welsh concessionary travel card; a disabled person’s Welsh concessionary travel card; and a Northern Ireland concessionary travel pass.

You can still use your ID to vote if it has expired. However, it needs to look like you and bear your current legal name.

The move to introduce voter ID has been controversial, especially considering a study from September that showed one in four Londoners are in the dark about the new requirement.

The Government said the vast majority of voters cast their ballot with ease at last May’s local elections when the requirement to show officially approved ID was introduced in England in the biggest change to in-person voting in 150 years.

The change was needed to combat possible voter impersonation, ministers said. Opponents stress there is barely any evidence of voter fraud in Britain, with just nine convictions out of tens of millions of ballots cast in the past five years.