Britons headed to the polls on Thursday in a general election that is predicted to definitively usher in the opposition Labour Party and bring an end to nearly fifteen years of Conservative control.
Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak unexpectedly announced that the nation would hold its first national election six months ahead of schedule, marking the first such election since Boris Johnson’s stunning victory for the Conservatives in 2019.
His gamble appears to be about to backfire dramatically since surveys for his right-wing party have shown a significant defeat throughout the course of the last two years as well as the six-week campaign.
That would almost certainly put Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61, in Downing Street, as leader of the largest party in parliament.
Centre-left Labour is projected to win its first general election since 2005 by historic proportions, with a flurry of election-eve polls all forecasting its biggest-ever victory.
But Starmer was taking nothing for granted as he urged voters not to stay at home. “Britain’s future is on the ballot,” he said. “But change will only happen if you vote for it.”
Sunak, 44, is widely seen as having run a dismal campaign, with anger over his decision to leave D-Day commemorations in France early the standout moment.
Voting began at 7:00 am in more than 40,000 polling stations across the country, from church halls, community centres and schools to more unusual venues such as pubs and even a ship.
At 10:00 pm, broadcasters then announce exit polls, which typically provide an accurate picture of how the main parties have performed.
Results from the UK’s 650 constituencies trickle in overnight, with the winning party expected to hit 326 seats — the threshold for a parliamentary majority — as dawn breaks Friday.
Polls suggest voters will punish the Tories after 14 years of often chaotic rule and could oust a string of government ministers, with talk that even Sunak himself might not be safe.
That would make him the first sitting prime minister not to retain his seat in a general election.
“I appreciate people have frustrations with our party,” he conceded on Wednesday. “But tomorrow’s vote… is a vote about the future.”
Meanwhile, three large-scale surveys indicated Labour was on the brink of a record victory, with the Tories set for their worst-ever result and the centrist Liberal Democrats resurgent in third.
The Conservatives could plunge to a record low of less than 127, the trio predicted.
The Lib Dems were tipped to scoop dozens of seats — up from their current tally of 15 — while Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party was set to win a handful.
YouGov and More in Common both forecast the Brexit figurehead would finally become an MP at the eighth time of asking.
If the predictions are accurate, Sunak will on Friday visit the head of state King Charles III to tender his resignation as prime minister.
Starmer will meet the monarch shortly after to take up his invitation to head the next government — and become prime minister.
The Labour leader will then travel to Downing Street — the office and residence of British leaders — where he would be expected to deliver a speech before making ministerial appointments.
It would cap a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, first elected an MP in 2015.
He has promised a “decade of national renewal” but faces the daunting task of revitalising creaking public services and a flatlining economy.
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