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==Elections to the House==
==Elections to the House==
Elections to the House of Commons are held when the Queen (in practice, acting at the request of the Prime Minister) dissolves Parliament. Elections must be held at least at five-yearly intervals.
Because Britain has three main parties (and a number of minor parties) and because each MP is elected to the House of Commons on the basis of winning the largest number of votes in his constituency, the link between the overall number of votes won by each party nationwide and the number of MPs that it is able to return to the Commons can be relatively weak. The electoral system for the Commons has historically been criticised by the [[Liberal Democrats]], who do particularly badly out of it.
Because Britain has three main parties (and a number of minor parties) and because each MP is elected to the House of Commons on the basis of winning the largest number of votes in his constituency, the link between the overall number of votes won by each party nationwide and the number of MPs that it is able to return to the Commons can be relatively weak. The electoral system for the Commons has historically been criticised by the [[Liberal Democrats]], who do particularly badly out of it.
==Composition==
==Composition==
[[Labour Party]]: 352 seats
[[Labour Party]]: 352 seats
[[Conservative Party]]: 196 seats
[[Conservative Party]]: 196 seats
[[Liberal Democrats]]: 63 seats
[[Liberal Democrats]]: 63 seats
[[Scottish National Party]] (Scottish nationalists): 6 seats
[[Scottish National Party]] (Scottish nationalists): 6 seats
[[Plaid Cymru]] (Welsh Nationalists): 3 seats
[[Plaid Cymru]] (Welsh Nationalists): 3 seats
[[Democratic Unionist Party]] (Northern Irish unionists): 9 seats
[[Democratic Unionist Party]] (Northern Irish unionists): 9 seats
[[Ulster Unionist Party]] (Northern Irish unionists): 1 seat
[[Ulster Unionist Party]] (Northern Irish unionists): 1 seat
[[Sinn Fein]] (Irish nationalists): 5 seats
[[Sinn Fein]] (Irish nationalists): 5 seats
[[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (Irish nationalists): 3 seats
[[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (Irish nationalists): 3 seats
Others (inc. independents): 8 seats
Others (inc. independents): 8 seats
TOTAL: 646
TOTAL: 646