General election 2024: Information for staff

On the day of the election 

Polling stations will be open from 7am until 10pm on 4 July. You can find out more about voting in your area on the Electoral Commission website. 

In order to vote you must be registered. 

• Register to vote (the deadline to register to vote in this election is 11.59pm on Tuesday 18 June) 

If you're voting in person, don’t forget to bring an approved form of identification, as this is now required. 

If you can’t get to the polling station on the day 

If you are planning to be away, or cannot get to a polling station for any reason on the day, you can register for a postal vote, or for someone else to vote for you by proxy. 

If you are unable to get to the polling station during the hours of 7am to 10pm due to work commitments, please register for a postal vote or speak to your line manager to see if there is any flexibility on your working hours that day. 

• Apply for a postal vote (the deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 19 June; you must also be registered to vote, see above) 
• Apply for a proxy vote (the deadline is 5pm on Wednesday 26 June; you must also be registered to vote, see above) 

You can find out more on the Electoral Commission website. 

Planning events or announcements 

Anyone planning to make announcements or press releases on or around the date of the General Election should be aware that most news channels will be overwhelmingly concentrated on political events, so any other news may have limited impact. 

We would advise, if possible, to avoid scheduling in-person events on the day of the General Election, to avoid asking people to travel and give them a chance to take part in the democratic process. If you already have an event scheduled to take place on or around election day, you may find that attendance is lower than usual, and may want to consider rescheduling.

Guidance for communications teams 

Universities must observe election and charity law and guidance to ensure our activity does not call the university’s political impartiality into question. While staff should not shy away from lending expertise and academic perspective to inform debate over the coming weeks and months, it is important that UCL, as an institution, remains politically neutral. As a charity, UCL must not support or oppose a political party or candidate. 

We would like to remind you, therefore, that any comments made as a representative of the university should be rooted in your research or work and be politically impartial. If you provide any commentary that may not be considered politically impartial, you should be clear that this is in an individual capacity, not being made on behalf of UCL and does not reflect our institutional position.

• Universities UK has published guidance for university communications and campaign teams, setting out how universities can operate in line with election and charity law to ensure their activity does not compromise their political impartiality. 

Will UCL be publishing advice for students? 

We have published a guide to the election for students on the Student News webpages.

Students’ Union UCL have published a manifesto analysis on their website, listing the major political parties' manifesto commitments to make student life better. Please keep an eye on their website and Instagram account for updates. 

The Russell Group Students' Unions have also published a Student Manifesto ahead of the General Electon, highlighting key issues facing students today.

Keep up to date with expert UCL commentary and events

• Commentary and analysis from UCL’s experts will appear on the UCL News and ‘In The Media’ webpages and Twitter/X feed. If you are a UCL academic who could contribute expert commentary in response to enquiries from news media, please contact the Media Relations team. 
• The UCL Constitution Unit is a centre of expertise in constitutional change and political reform. 
• UCL’s Department of Political Science hosts events including panel discussions and podcasts.
• The UCL Policy Lab will continue to develop its political narrative and governing ideas, focusing on its Ordinary Hope project with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, alongside general election polling with More in Common and The Respect Agenda.

Events

Join us for an ‘election espresso’ and discussion with the Disagreeing Well team on 25 June! The upcoming general election is set to be one of the most divisive and contentious seen in recent years. With that in mind, this event will be a forum in which to debrief and discuss the big issues, in a friendly and relaxed environment. Over coffee and pastries, the UCL community are invited to discuss the national context of the election so far. This will lean into a group workshop and the opportunity to share diverse perspectives. Sign up here.