Parliament has agreed a snap General Election for December 12, but what does this mean and what happens in the weeks before the crucial vote.
MPs labelled as dysfunctional by Prime Minister Boris Johnson have just a few days left in their jobs and lack any further opportunity to rock the Brexit boat.
Parliament will be dissolved at one minute past midnight on Wednesday, November 6.
Effectively, at that time, every MP is up for re-election and no longer has a seat in the House of Commons.
Local constituency parties are expected to make their nominations for candidates to fight for their seats by Thursday, November 14.
Postal vote warning for expats
The deadline to register to vote, including for expats is Monday, November 25, while the following day (November 26) is the deadline for applying for a postal vote.
Councils are warning that postal votes could take 12 days or even longer to reach some expat voters in Europe.
That means some expat voters may not receive their package with only four days or less to return them for inclusion in the poll.
Some expat campaign groups are urging expats to appoint a proxy voter instead of hoping an unreliable mail system delivers on time.
What is an election purdah?
The next key date is General Election Day 2019 – which is Thursday, December 12. Polling stations open at 7am and close at 10pm. Counting the votes will take place throughout the night and an indication of the result is expected by lunchtime on Friday, December 13, with the final tally of seats for each party in late on the Friday evening.
Meanwhile, although ministers are no longer MPs when Parliament is dissolved, they still carry out their departmental duties. The role of minister is a separate office to that of MP.
However, pre-election rules called a purdah come in to force.
The rules govern how ministers and civil servants must act without favour during the run-up to polling day, even though ministers can campaign for their party and for re-election.
And what about Brexit?
The government and the EU have agreed to put any decision on the backburner until January 31, 2020.
