THE United Kingdom general election of 2017 is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Thursday, June 8.

Each of the 650 parliamentary constituencies will elect one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament.

In line with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, an election had not been due until May 7, 2020, but a call for a snap election by Prime Minister Theresa May received the necessary two-thirds majority in a 522 to 13 vote in the House of Commons on April 19, 2017.

The Conservative Party, which has governed since 2015 (and as a senior coalition partner from 2010), is defending a majority of 12 against the Labour Party, the official opposition.

The third largest party, the Scottish National Party, won 56 of the 59 Scottish constituencies in 2015.

The Liberal Democrats, and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, are the fourth and fifth largest parties, with nine and eight seats respectively.

In the Central Devon Parliamentary Constituency on June 8, 112 Polling Stations will be open from 7am to 10pm for electors to vote.

The constituency comprises an electorate of about 84,000 people, 27,000 electors from the West Devon Borough Council area and an additional 57,000 electors from Mid Devon, East Devon and Teignbridge District Council areas.

The Central Devon Constituency candidates are: John Dean (National Health Action), Tim Matthews (UKIP), Lisa Robillard Webb (Labour), Mel Stride (Conservative), Alex White (Liberal Democrat), Andy Williamson (Green) and Lloyd Knight (Liberal).

Electors are encouraged to use their vote and the count will take place in Okehampton immediately after polls close, with the result expected in the early hours of Friday, June 9.

Alan Quick