650

Seats will be filled by Members of Parliament in Thursday’s general election across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

326

Seats are needed to form a majority government. On dissolution, Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives held 330.

277

Seats won by the main opposition Labour Party under former leader Ed Miliband in the general election of May 2015.

3,303

Candidates will be standing across the 650 constituencies. Each is required to deposit £500 (Dh2,371) to have their names printed on ballots.

3,971

Candidates stood in the election of 2015 that saw David Cameron’s Conservatives returned with an unexpected majority.

If foxes had votes …

If foxes had votes, chances are every single one in the United Kingdom would be voting Labour. A clause in the Conservative party election manifesto says a new Theresa May government would allow for a free vote in the House of Commons to reintroduce fox hunting.

Supporters of the activity say it’s an integral part of British social and rural activity say it’s an integral part of history.

Opponents say it’s barbaric and is nothing more that cruelty disguised as a social gathering, where scores of dogs followed by horse riders chase down a single terrified animal.

The activity was banned in the United Kingdom in 2005.

Father of the House

While there will be many new faces when the new parliament sits in Westminster after Thursday’s general election, one very old and familiar face will likely be back to continue as ‘Father of the House’, the name given to the longest-serving Member of Parliament.

Sir Kenneth Clarke, who has serviced as the Chancellor of the Exchequer and remains firmly in support of Britain’s membership of the European Union, is running again and favourite to win the seat in Rushcliffe in south Nottinghamshire. He’s held the seat since the general election of 1970, and in the June 2015 election, easily won with more than 51 per cent of votes cast.

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Mhairi Black, a Scottish National Party politician elected in May, 2015, was the youngest MP elected to Westminster in almost 150 years.

Aged just 20 years and 237 days when she won her Glasgow-area seat, Black has said the House of Commons is a waste of time as little gets achieved.

Despite her misgivings, Black is running again.