General elections must be held at least once every 5 years. The Prime minister usually decides when the general election will be held. There is a local elections on May 6th 2010 - – the same day as Haringey’s local elections.
General Elections are held to elect MP's. TAfter the election the leader of the party with the most MP's (or Parliamentary ‘seats’) becomes the Prime Minister. There are 650 parliamentary seats. The Prime Minister then decides which of the MP's will form the government.
In order for a party to win an outright majority in a general election they must have the most MP's (ie, win the most ‘seats’), and they must also win more seats than all the other parties added together. If they do not win more seats than all the other parties added together there is a ‘hung parliament’. The difference between the number of seats the winning party has and all the other seats added together gives you the government majority.