Know about different types of elections and understand the electoral process in the United Kingdom

In the UK, we live in what's called a democracy. This means we let as many people as possible have a say in how the country is run. We do this through our rights to vote in elections. For many years, lots of people in the UK fought to get the rights to vote that we have today. And now, every eligible person aged 18 and over can vote.

There are lots of different types of elections to vote in, general, local, and European. Let's take a close look at how members of parliament, MPs, are voted into the House of Commons in the general election. General elections take place in the UK, usually, once every five years.

Voting takes place on one day, called polling day. People go to polling stations set up across the country. They choose who they want to vote for from a list of candidates by putting a cross next to the name of the person they've chosen. The candidate with the most votes then becomes the MP for that area, called a constituency.

OK. But how would I know who to vote for? Before elections, candidates need to campaign to try to get people to vote for them. Campaigning can involve handing out leaflets to explain their ideas, speaking in public discussions, talking to people by visiting houses door to door and party political broadcasts on TV.

Parties with candidates standing for election also write a list of everything they want to do if they win. This is called a manifesto. Once they've won an election, an MP represents all their constituents, including those who didn't vote or voted for someone else.

The party with the most elected MPs forms the government, and their leader becomes the prime minister. If no one party wins the election then this is called a hung parliament. If this happens, two or more parties might agree to join together to form what is known as a coalition government.