Britons headed to the polls on Thursday in a general election that is widely expected to return the opposition Labour Party to power, ending nearly 15 years of Conservative rule.
The country’s first nationwide vote since Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s landslide victory over the Conservatives in 2019 comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak made a surprise call to hold it six months earlier than planned.
His gamble appears to have backfired spectacularly, with opinion polls over the six-week election period, and over the past two years, showing major defeats for his right-wing party.
That would almost certainly mean Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61, would be in Downing Street as leader of Parliament’s largest party.
The centre-left Labour Party is expected to win a historic victory in the first general election since 2005, with a series of opinion polls in the days leading up to the election predicting its biggest win ever.
But Starmer urged voters to stay at home and was taking nothing for granted. “The future of Britain depends on your vote,” he said. “But change will only happen if you vote.”
long night
Voting began at 7am in more than 40,000 polling stations across the country, ranging from church halls, community centres and schools to more unusual locations such as pubs and boats.
At 10pm, broadcasters release their exit polls, which usually pinpoint the election results for the major parties.
Results from Britain’s 650 constituencies were gradually announced overnight, with the winning party expected to secure 326 seats – the threshold for a parliamentary majority – by dawn on Friday.
Opinion polls suggest voters could punish the Conservatives after 14 years of chaotic rule and expel a string of ministers, with Mr Sunak himself not even safe.
If that happens, he will be the first sitting prime minister to fail to retain his seat in a general election.
“I know people are unhappy with our party,” he acknowledged Wednesday, “but tomorrow’s vote is a vote about the future.”
Recommendation
Mr Sunak, 44, is widely seen as having run a disastrous election campaign, highlighted by anger over his decision to leave early the anniversary of the Normandy landings in France.
In a new blow on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper switched sides to Labour, a significant endorsement given that the paper has backed the winners of every election for the past few decades.
Its endorsement follows that of the Financial Times, The Economist and The Sunday Times, as well as the traditionally left-leaning Guardian and Daily Mirror.
Meanwhile, three major opinion polls suggest Labour is on the brink of a record victory, the Conservatives’ worst ever result and the centrist Liberal Democrats are set to return to third place.
YouGov, Focaldata and More in Common all predicted that Labour would win at least 430 seats, surpassing the 418 seats won by Tony Blair’s government in 1997.
They predicted the Conservative Party’s approval rating could fall below its all-time low of 127.
The Liberal Democrats are expected to gain dozens of seats, up from their current 15, and Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform Britain Party is also expected to win several.
Both YouGov and More in Common predict that a pro-Brexit representative will finally become an MP on his eighth try.
“National Rebirth”
If predictions prove correct, Sunak will visit head of state King Charles III on Friday to offer his resignation as prime minister.
Mr Starmer is due to meet the Queen shortly afterwards to accept an invitation to lead the next government and become Prime Minister.
The Labour leader will then head to Downing Street, the official residence and home of the British Prime Minister, to deliver a speech before appointing Cabinet ministers.
It would be the culmination of a political breakthrough for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, who was first elected to parliament in 2015.
The prime minister has promised a “decade of national renewal” but faces the daunting task of revitalising ageing public services and a stagnating economy.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
