Election timetable: The road to the snap poll
Tuesday 25 April 2017 11:58, UK
The Prime Minister has called a snap General Election on 8 June to give her a mandate for delivering Brexit.
MPs have backed Theresa May's call for an early election and the Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn have hit the campaign trail to try and win your vote. Here is how the next few weeks will pan out in the run up to 8 June:
This is when the prorogation period - the formal end of the current parliamentary session - is expected to begin.
EU summit will be held in Brussels where the remaining 27 countries will agree the guidelines - they hope - and give its formal mandate to the European Commission's chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
Whatever comes out of the summit could become a key theme of the campaign, given Mrs May says she called the poll to secure stability ahead of Brexit.
When Parliament is expected to be dissolved - 25 working days before polling, marking the start of the official campaign.
Mrs May's Brexit strategy will get its first major electoral test in the local elections in England, Wales and Scotland.
There will be full contests in 34 English councils, including 27 county councils, and for all 32 Scottish councils and all 22 Welsh councils.
Elections will also be held in England for directly elected mayors in six devolved new super-regions plus two existing councils.
The deadline for candidates to deliver nomination papers is normally a month before polling day.
The registration deadline for voters is usually around two weeks from polling day.
The anticipated deadline for applying for a postal vote.
The deadline for proxy vote applications is usually a week after the voter registration deadline.
The nation votes in the General Election. Polls will close at 10pm and an exit poll will be released, possibly within seconds, telling us which party the pollsters think will have the most seats.
Traditionally, Sunderland has prided itself on being the first to cross the finish line, counting all votes and returning a result before anyone else. But this year, the city's North East neighbour Newcastle has its eyes on the prize so watch out for some entertainment there.
If, as opinion polls suggest, Mrs May is re-elected with an increased majority, this should become clear by the early hours of the morning.
Once you've managed to catch a few hours of sleep, it will be worth switching your TV back on or opening the Sky News app for the inevitable speeches from the victors and the vanquished.
And if 2015 is anything to go by, there could even be a resignation or two...