The whole country gets to vote for their local MP on July 4th (that is if you are over 18, a British citizen and not currently incarcerated). Now political obsessives, and many others, may stay up all night to watch the votes roll in, but if your level of interest is only in the big picture, and not watching every seat being announced there are a few key times to watch out for.
7am: Polling Stations open. From 07:00 you can go to your local polling booth, with the required photo ID and vote at any time until polling booths shut at 22:00. If you have submitted a postal vote you don’t have to worry about this.
10pm: Polling stations close. Many news channels will announce their exit polls and if you are around Westminster you may hear cheers and cries as some people keep their jobs, and others may be out looking for one.
11:30pm: The race for first result, by this time at least one constituency will have tried to announce their new MP.
5/7/24:
2am: We will find out if Labour leader Keir Starmer has kept his seat
4am: We will find out if Conservative leader Rishi Sunak has kept his seat
5am: By this time we will probably know who has won the general election, and thus who is the next PM. So if you want to know early, maybe set an alarm for 4-5am. Do not worry if you do not, I’m sure you won’t miss it on the 5th!
