UNITED KINGDOM
Date of Elections: 11 June 1987
Purpose of Elections
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Commons, whose members' term
of office came prematurely to an end when Parliament was dissolved on 18 May 1987.
Previous general elections had been held on 9 June 1983.
Characteristics of Parliament
The bicameral Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the House of Commons
and the House of Lords.
The House of Commons consists of 650 members elected for 5 years. Of the 650 seats,
523 are set aside for England, 72 for Scotland, 38 for Wales and 17 for Northern Ireland.
The House of Lords is indeterminate in size. There were, in early 1987, 1,180 potential
members, of whom some were debarred from taking part in the proceedings of the House
either because they were not in receipt of a writ of summons or because they were on leave
of absence. The membership comprises: 819 hereditary peers and peeresses sitting by virtue
of creation or descent, other than those who have disclaimed their titles for life under the
provisions of the Peerage Act, 1963; 335 life peers; 2 archbishops and 24 bishops (as long
as they hold their sees). About 300 peers attend their House's sessions with any regularity.
Electoral System
All British subjects and citizens of the Republic of Ireland are entitled to vote provided
that they have reached the age of 18 on polling day and are resident in a constituency on
the "qualifying date" (October 10 of each year)*. Prisoners and members of the House of
Lords cannot vote, while persons convicted of electoral offences may not do so for a period
of five years.
Electoral registers are drawn up on the constituency level and revised annually in October
to take effect the following February. Voting is not compulsory. Proxy voting is permitted
for members of the armed forces, Crown servants and British Council staff employed
overseas, persons who are outside the country on polling day because of their employment,
and the husbands or wives of any of the people in the above categories. Postal voting is
allowed to those people who, although in the United Kingdom, are prevented from voting
in person in their constituency because of, inter alia, physical disability, religious observance,
or inability to reach the polling station without an air or sea journey.
* For a parliamentary election in any constituency in Northern Ireland, the elector must have been
resident in Northern Ireland for three months prior to the qualifying date.
Chron. XXI (1986-1987) 147
