London:
Britons went to the polls on Thursday in a general election that is expected to emphatically return the opposition Labor Party to power and end almost a decade and a half of Conservative rule.
The country’s first national vote since Boris Johnson won a landslide victory for the Conservatives in 2019 follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise call to hold it six months earlier than necessary.
His gamble looks set to backfire spectacularly, with polls over the six weeks of the campaign – and the last two years – pointing to a heavy defeat for his right-wing party.
That would almost certainly put Labor leader Keir Starmer, 61, in Downing Street as leader of the biggest party in parliament.
The centre-left Labor Party is predicted to win its first general election since 2005 in historic proportions, with a flurry of polls in the run-up to the election all predicting its biggest victory ever.
But Starmer took nothing for granted as he urged voters not to stay at home. “The future of Britain is up for vote,” he said. “But change will only happen if you vote for it.”
Long night
Voting began at 7am in more than 40,000 polling stations across the country, from church halls, community centers and schools to more unusual locations such as pubs and even a ship.
At 10pm, broadcasters announce the exit polls, which typically provide an accurate picture of the performance of the main parties.
Results from the UK’s 650 constituencies arrive overnight, with the winning party expected to reach 326 seats – the threshold for a parliamentary majority – by dawn on Friday.
Polls suggest voters will punish the Conservatives after 14 years of often chaotic government and could remove a number of government ministers, with rumors that even Sunak himself may not be safe.
This would make him the first sitting prime minister not to retain his seat at a general election.
“I understand that people have frustrations with our party,” he admitted on Wednesday. “But tomorrow’s vote… is a vote about the future.”
Endorsements
Sunak, 44, is widely seen as having run a dismal campaign, with anger over his decision to leave France’s D-Day celebrations early being the standout moment.
In further blows on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper switched allegiance to the Labor Party – a key endorsement given the tabloid has backed the winner in every election for several decades.
It follows the Financial Times, the Economist and The Sunday Times, as well as the traditionally left-wing newspapers The Guardian and The Daily Mirror, also endorsing the party.
Meanwhile, three large-scale surveys indicated that Labor was on the verge of a record victory, with the Conservatives recording their worst result ever and the centrist Liberal Democrats re-emerging in third.
YouGov, Focaldata and More in Common, all designed by the Labor Party, would guarantee at least 430 seats, surpassing Tony Blair’s 418 in 1997.
The Conservatives could fall to a record low of less than 127, the trio predicted.
The Liberal Democrats were tipped to win dozens of seats – up from their current total of 15 – while Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration UK party was expected to win a few.
YouGov and More in Common predict that the Brexit figurehead would finally become an MP at the eighth time.
‘National renewal’
If predictions are correct, Sunak will visit the head of state, King Charles III, on Friday to present his resignation as prime minister.
Starmer will meet the monarch shortly afterwards to accept his invitation to head the next government – and become prime minister.
The Labor leader will then travel to Downing Street – the office and residence of British leaders – where he is expected to give a speech before making ministerial appointments.
It would cap a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and chief prosecutor, elected deputy for the first time in 2015.
He has promised a “decade of national renewal” but faces a daunting task of revitalizing crumbling public services and a stagnant economy.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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