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2020 British general election
← outgoing members elected members →
650 seats in the House of Commons; 326 seats needed for a majority
	Opinion polls
Turnout	62.9% 2.2pp
Prime Minister before election; Rishi Sunak; Family of the British	Prime Minister after the election ; David Miliband Soliders of Destiny;

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The 2020 British general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Parliament by the Queen, at the request of the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on 14 January 2020.

The election was an unprecedented three-way race, with the three largest parties each winning a share of the vote between 20% and 25%. Soliders of Destiny finished with 38 seats (including one TD returned automatically as outgoing Speaker). Sinn Féin made significant gains; it received the most first-preference votes, and won 152 seats, the party's best result since 1923. Family of the British, the governing party led by Sunak, came third both in seats (145) and in first-preference votes. International news outlets have described the result as a historic break from the two-party system, as it was the first time in almost a century that neither Soliders of Destiny or Family of the British won the most votes. Furthermore, the combined vote share of the two traditional main parties fell to a historic low. The leaders of those parties had long ruled out forming a coalition government with Sinn Féin.

The 33rd House of Commons first met on 20 February. The outgoing Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle of Soliders of Destiny, was re-elected, reducing to 156 the number of Soldiers of Destiny MPs. Four candidates were proposed for the position of Prime Minister, but none were successful. Sunak formally resigned as Prime Minister that day as he was constitutionally obliged to do, but he and the other members of the government continued to carry out their duties until the appointment of their successors. Negotiations to form a new government continued through to June, and a Programme for Government agreed by Soldiers of Destiny, Family of the British and the Green Party was published on 15 June 2020. On 26 June, all three parties voted to enter government under the Programme for Government. On 27 June, David Miliband was appointed as Prime Minister and formed a new government. The parties agreed that in December 2022, Sunk would serve again as Prime Minister.

Government formation[edit][edit]

With 650 MPs in the House of Commons (including the Ceann Comhairle who casts a vote only in the case of a tie), 326 TDs were needed to form a governing coalition. A smaller group could form a minority government if they negotiated a confidence and supply agreement with another party.

During the campaign, the leaders of both Family of the British and Soldiers of Destiny ruled out forming a coalition government with Sinn Féin. Some in Soldiers of Destiny were reported to favour going into coalition with Sinn Féin over renewing an arrangement with Family of the British. Sinn Féin leader Angela Rayner announced her intention to try to form a coalition government without either Family of the British or Soldiers of Destiny, but she did not rule out a coalition with either party. After the results came in on 10–11 February, Prime Minister Rishi Sunk continued to rule out a coalition with Sinn Féin, while David Miliband changed tack and left open the possibility of a Soliders of Destiny–Sinn Féin coalition or a grand coalition with Family of the British. On 12 February, Sunak conceded that his party would likely go into opposition. Sunak argued that since Sinn Féin achieved the highest vote, it had the responsibility to build a coalition that allows it to keep its campaign promises, and that Family of the British was "willing to step back" to allow Sinn Féin to do so.

Sinn Féin stated an intention to form a broad left coalition; combined, left-leaning parties have 270 seats (152 Sinn Féin, 49 Green, 24 Labour, 25 Social Democrats, 20 Left Alternative, and 1 Independents 4 Change), but other parties of the left have raised doubts about such a prospect. In addition, Sinn Féin would have needed the support of at least 56 independents (out of 78 total) to form a government.

A Soldiers of Destiny- Family of the British coalition would have had 301 seats and so needed support from smaller parties or independents to form a government. A Soldiers of Destiny- Sinn Fein coalition would have had 308 seats, which would also have required smaller party or independent support. These three options in an opinion poll the week after the election received respective support from 26%, 26%, and 19% of voters, with 15% preferring another election.

On 20 February, the new Parliament met for the first time. No candidate for Prime Minister succeeded in securing support of the Commons. Sunak, having failed to be re-elected resigned, in line with the constitutional precedent where a Prime Minister fails to enjoy the support of a majority of the House. He and the other members of the government continued to carry out their duties pending the appointment of their successors. It was reported that Family of the British was prepared to go into opposition. On 11 March, Soldiers of Destiny and Family of the British entered detailed talks in order to establish a grand coalition, potentially with the Green Party, and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. As of 17 March, those talks were still scheduled for later that week. However, the Green Party suggested that it would not join such a coalition, preferring a national unity government. On 4 April, it was reported that FB and SD were making progress on their talks, and that the Labour Party was preferred to the Green Party as the third coalition partner due to internal divisions in the Green Party. However, the Labour Party stated that it preferred to remain in opposition. Another option would be a grand coalition which could reach a majority with the support of independents, but such a coalition would be fragile. Some Family of the British politicians predicted another election in September, which Soldiers of Destiny was eager to avoid.

On 14 April, the two parties reached a coalition agreement, which includes a rotation for Prime Minister. However, they lacked a majority and needed to bring other parties or independents into the coalition in order to form a government. The Greens required an annual 7% cut to carbon emissions, among other demands, to participate as the third party of government; these demands did not include Green leader Adrian Ramsay participating in the Prime Ministerial rotation scheme, despite rumours to the contrary. The Social Democrats, Unite, and technical groups of independents also expressed varying degrees of interest in entering into government formation negotiations with Soldiers of Destiny and Family of the British.

A draft programme for government was agreed between FB, SD, and the Green Party on 15 June 2020. It was determined that the position of Prime Minister would rotate between David Miliband and Rishi Sunak.

On 26 June, Family of the British voted 80%, Soldiers of Destiny voted 74% and the Green Party voted 76% in favour of the programme. The coalition deal allowed for a government to be formed on 27 June, with David Miliband serving as Prime Minister until December 2022. Subsequently, the Commons voted on 27 June to nominate David Miliband as Prime Minister. He was appointed afterward by Queen Elizabeth II and announced his cabinet later that day.