Legal background
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 ("the 2011 Act") provides for fixed days for polls for parliamentary general elections. In accordance with section 1(2) of the 2011 Act, the polling day for elections is ordinarily the first Thursday in May in the fifth calendar year following that in which the polling day for the previous parliamentary general election fell.
	The 2011 Act also makes provision for early parliamentary general elections. This Act provides that the 12 December 2019 be treated as polling day appointed under section 2(7) of the 2011 Act. This means that the provisions in section 3 of the 2011 Act in respect of the dissolution of Parliament will apply to the early parliamentary general election.