This book gives a full description of the development of the British electoral system and how it works today, with illustrative details covering the period since World War 2. It includes chapters on the timing of elections, qualifications for voters, Parliamentary constituencies and their boundaries, national and local political parties, candidates, constituency and national campaigning, polling day, by-elections, local elections, Euro-elections, referenda, what influences voters, how much elections cost and how the system is evolving. Annexes contain a mass of electoral statistics and a thorough bibliography.