Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

When the UK has a general election, adults vote for who they want to be the MP for their area.

An MP has a seat in the House of Commons in Parliament. The political party with at least 326 MP seats has what's called a majority and can make a government.

But what is an MP, how do you become one and what do they do? There was only one way to really find out. We sent Hacker to try his luck at running for Parliament.

How do you reckon he got on? Read on to find out more about how to become an MP and watch the videos to follow Hacker on his exciting journey into politics...

MP stands for 'Member of Parliament' - and Hacker reckons he's got what he takes to become one. An MP is a person who is chosen to represent a particular area of the country in Parliament.

These areas are called constituencies. The UK is divided into 650 constituencies and there is an MP for each one.

Most MPs belong to a political party. There are many different political parties. People who want to become MPs are chosen by their party to represent an area for them. A candidate will choose which political party they want to belong to based on what that party believes in.

But those who don't want to belong to a party can become an 'independent' candidate. This means they do not represent a political party and stand as a candidate on their own.

MPs act as the voice of the people in their constituency in Parliament - and we all know Hacker has no problem with his loud voice, so he's off to a good start.

To get to know the people they represent, MPs will spend time in their constituency, meeting the people they represent and attending events. They will hold special meetings called surgeries, during which people can go along to meet their MP if they want to talk to them about something.

When they're in Parliament, they can bring up the issues that people have spoken to them about with important members of the government. They will also be involved when it comes to suggesting and considering new laws.

Some MPs who belong to the political party (or parties) in power will be given special jobs by the prime minister, which they will do on top of their job as an MP. These MPs will be made government ministers and asked to look after particular areas of how the country is run - for example, health or education. We wonder if there's a minister for Meat Paste...

Click here to find out more about the job of an MP.

People who want to be an MP need to convince people in their area to vote for them. As a new candidate, Hacker will have a lot of people to persuade.

Political parties publish a big list of what they want to do if people choose their candidates. This is called a manifesto. Adult voters in the UK can read these lists to help them decide which MP candidate they want to vote for. Each idea on the list is called a policy.

Once an MP candidate has their list of ideas, they need to go out into the public and convince people to vote for them. This is called 'going on the campaign trail'. Candidates will knock on doors to talk to people at home, hand out leaflets and give speeches at public events.

Other members of their political party and the public can help the candidate that they want to win by joining them on the campaign trail, to try to give them a better chance of winning.

Parliament is divided into two parts: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. MPs are found in the House of Commons.

MPs in Parliament work with the government on things like making new laws.

The government, which is led by the prime minister, is in charge of running the country. But it cannot do things like make new laws without asking the rest of Parliament. All of the MPs who won their seat in Parliament, whichever party they belong to, discuss things like this in the House of Commons.

Before every general election, the current Parliament comes to an end - a bit like the end of term.

MPs all leave their jobs, ready for the public to choose who will get the job next.

People who want to become MPs at the next general election then go on the campaign trail.

Many candidates will appear on television so that people watching can find out more about their policies. Interviewers will ask them difficult questions about what they want to do to help viewers decide who they should vote for.

So, Hacker was put through his paces too.

Once the people who want to be MPs have done all they can to convince the public that they're the right person to represent them in Parliament, it is down to the general election vote to see who will get the job.

Adult voters go to places called polling stations, where they are given a card with a name of all of the different MP candidates in their area. They will mark a cross in the box next to the person they want to choose. Everybody gets just one vote.

Once all the voting is done by the end of the day, the votes are added up and the MP candidate who has won the most votes in a constituency will be elected to represent that area in Parliament.

The party which has the most winning MPs will win the general election. This party will make up the next government. Sometimes there isn't an outright winner and so there are more discussions needed before a government can be formed.

Hacker popped along to Downing Street to reflect on his journey into politics. How do you reckon he got on?