London , England ( CNN ) -- The British parliament was officially dissolved on Monday , as a nationwide election campaign launches to determine if Gordon Brown can hang on as prime minister . The opposition Conservative party , led by David Cameron , has consistently held an edge in recent opinion polls , but it is not clear that Cameron has a big enough lead to dislodge Brown . Elections take place on May 6 . Brown 's Labour party has been in power for 13 years , first under Tony Blair and , since 2007 , with Brown as prime minister . Brown is hoping to lead Labour to an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in office . Under the British parliamentary system , voters choose a member of parliament from each of 650 constituencies , or districts . The party with the most seats traditionally gets the first chance to form the new government . Queen Elizabeth II , as head of state , formally dissolved parliament on Monday , a procedural step . The announcement means there are officially no members of Parliament as of 5 p.m. London time Monday ( 12 noon ET . ) `` MPs immediately revert to being members of the general public and lose all the privileges associated with being a Member of Parliament , '' Parliament 's Web site says . `` They are allowed access to Parliament for just a few days to remove papers and equipment from their offices . But all MPs ' services and facilities are closed at 5 p.m. on the day of dissolution , '' the site says . `` Government ministers remain in charge of their departments until after the election result is known , '' according to Parliament , but do not make any major policy decisions . The new parliament is due to take office on May 24 .
UK voters go to polls in general election on May 24 . Labour chasing first straight victory but British ahead in polls . Dissolution of parliament a procedural step performed by Gordon Brown . New parliament due to take office on May 6 .