19/04/2017 Newsround

Members of Parliament will vote later today

on whether to have a general election - that's where adults vote

on who they want to run the country.

It's after Prime Minister Theresa May made the surprise announcement

that she wanted to call one in June.

Here's what she said.

Since I became Prime Minister, I have said that there should be no

election until 2020.

But now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee

certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this

election and seek your support for the decisions I must take.

So it's a big day for the whole UK but it starts in London

and Ayshah is there.

Hello, Ayshah.

Hi, Martin.

Yes, I'm at Downing Street in Westminster in London.

Behind that door is where the Prime Minister

Theresa May lives and works.

Later, she will go around the corner to to the Houses of Parliament

where all the MPs will vote on whether or not to give

the Prime Minister her wish and to have that big vote -

a general election.

These big votes are supposed to take place every five years

so it was a big surprise to hear Mrs May say she wants one.

Here's our political expert Adam Fleming.

This came as a total surprise to people who watch politics.

Imagine the most surprising thing that's ever happened

to you and multiply it by about 100 and that is why there are so many

journalists from across the UK and around the world reporting

here on the news.

Theresa May says that she wants there to be a general

election on the 8th of June.

So in about six or seven weeks' time.

Although she can't just say it, she has got to get Parliament

to vote in favour of it.

This is all about Brexit, which is that process of taking

the UK out of the club of 27 other European countries called the EU.

Theresa May is about to start negotiating with lots of other prime

Theresa May is about to start negotiating with lots of other

prime ministers and presidents from around Europe.

She reckons that by having an election year, she could get more

MPs who are on her side and that will make her job a bit easier.

What happens next is weeks of debates, arguments, leaflets,

adverts and fights about all sorts of things like the police,

the economy, Scotland, health and what happens

in your schools.

It is going to be fascinating to watch.

Members of Parliament are likely to vote later to allow this

big vote to take place.

It'll take place on 8th of June - so what happens

in a general election?

So how does a general election work?

Well, the UK is divided into 650 areas called constituencies.

Each area has a Member of Parliament, or an MP,

who represents it.

All of them get a seat here, in the Houses of Parliament.

In a general election, adults 18 and over get the chance

to vote for who should be the MP in their area.

On election day, people go to polling stations to vote.

They get a ballot paper with names of all the candidates,

that's the people running to be the MP.

They put a cross next to the person they most want to represent them.

The candidate who gets the most votes becomes MP.

Most MPs are part of groups called political parties.

Usually the political party that gets the most MPs out of the 650

forms the new government, which runs the country.

And that party's leader becomes the Prime Minister and moves

into Number Ten Downing Street.

So it's a very busy time for politicians and for voters.

We've got 49 days to wait before the election happens and there'll be

a lot of talking and arguing between now and then as each

side explains why adults should vote for them.

The leader of the winning party will be back in

Downing Street on 9th June.

Back to you, Martin.

Thanks, Ayshah, and you can go online to find out more on this

story including exactly what happens during a general election.

Now sadly it was the end of Leicester City's adventure

in the Champions League last night.

Saul Nigez scored first for Atletico Madrid but then

Jamie Vardy scored in the second half to give Leicester a chance

but it ended up as 1-1.

As these matches are decided over two games, Atletico got

through because they won the first match 1-0 meaing the final result

was 2-1 to Atletico.

That's all from me.

We love CBBC. And we love The Next Step.

And The Dumping Ground.