Yui Mok/PA
For many people, Christmas Day is a time to focus on swapping presents or over-indulging on food – but for some, it is the ideal occasion to apply to register to vote.
A total of 3,273 applications were submitted on December 25 this year, with 3,218 online and 55 on paper forms, Government figures show.
The majority (62 per cent) were from people aged 34 and under, while just 3 per cent came from those aged 65 and over.
The number is up by nearly 1,000 compared with Christmas Day 2022, when 2,313 people made an application.
Christmas Eve and Boxing Day also saw a year-on-year rise in applications, with 4,402 forms submitted on December 24, up from 3,663 in 2022, and a further 4,913 on Boxing Day, up from 3,926.
The jump in applications to register to vote comes ahead of what should be a bumper year for elections in the UK.
Local elections are taking place across much of England on May 2, along with high-profile mayoral contests in areas including London, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, plus elections for police commissioners in most of England and Wales.
A by-election to choose a new MP for Wellingborough will be held early in the year, though the exact date has yet to be confirmed.
There is also likely to be a general election, with one due to take place – by law – no later than January 28 2025.
The Government can choose to call the general election before this date and may well do so, not least to avoid the campaign running right through next Christmas – a prospect many candidates would probably not welcome, let alone voters.
One scenario is for polling day to take place in the autumn, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak using the next Conservative party conference, which would typically be held in late September or early October 2024, as a chance to launch his campaign ahead of a general election in late October or early November.
This would also give him a chance to reach his second anniversary of becoming prime minister, which falls on October 25.
But if Mr Sunak decides to go to the polls even earlier in the year, an alternative date could be May 2, to coincide with the local, mayoral and commissioner elections.
Another possibility is June, a month or so after the local elections – a pattern preferred by former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1983 and 1987.
Details on how to apply to register to vote are at gov.uk/register-to-vote.
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