Britons voted on Thursday in a legislative election that is anticipated to put Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to power, ousting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives after 14 stormy years.
Opinion surveys show Starmer’s centre-left party on track for a landslide win, but many voters desire change after a period of infighting and chaos under the Conservatives, which resulted in five prime ministers in eight years.
This means that Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer, might enter office with one of the most ambitious to-do lists in British history, but without an upsurge of support or the financial wherewithal to address it.
The country’s 40,000 voting booths opened at 6 a.m. GMT.
Sunak, 44, voted early with his wife, Akshata Murty, in Richmond, northern England, the election area he represents in parliament. Around 8:30 a.m. GMT, Starmer and his wife voted in his northern London constituency.
After calling the election months earlier than planned, Sunak has recently abandoned his pledge for a fifth consecutive Conservative win, instead warning of the perils of an uncontested Labour Party in parliament.
Sunak launched a new rallying call to voters before of the election, claiming that a Labour administration will raise taxes, stifle economic growth, and make Britain more vulnerable at a time of geopolitical crisis, which Labour denies.
“They will do lasting damage to the nation and our economy — just like they did back when they were in power,” Sunak told CNN on Thursday. “Don’t let that happen.”
Voting concludes at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. GMT), and an exit poll will provide the first indication of the outcome. The detailed official results are due in the early hours of Friday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprising demand to hold the country’s first national poll since Boris Johnson won a resounding victory for the Tories in 2019 has resulted in the election taking place six months sooner than planned.
His gambit appears to have failed horribly, with surveys throughout the six-week campaign — and for the previous two years — pointing to a crushing defeat for his right-wing party.
Voting began at 7 a.m. at almost 40,000 voting places around the country, ranging from church halls, community centers, and schools to more unexpected locations like bars and even a ship.
At 10 p.m., broadcasters publish exit polls, which often offer an accurate picture of how the major parties did.
Results from the UK’s 650 districts are trickling in overnight, with the winning party projected to reach 326 seats—the threshold for a parliamentary majority.
Polls predict that voters would punish the Tories for 14 years of frequently chaotic control, perhaps ousting a slew of cabinet ministers, with speculation that even Sunak himself may be in danger.
This would make him the first incumbent prime minister not to keep his position.