Britain participated in a general election anticipated to bring a landslide victory for Opposition Labour Party, concluding nearly 15 years of Conservative rule. This election, the first national ballot since Boris Johnson’s decisive win for the Tories in 2019, follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s unexpected decision to hold it six months earlier than required.
Sunak’s gamble appears set to backfire, with polls throughout the six-week campaign — and for the last two years — predicting a heavy defeat for his right-wing party. This would almost certainly position Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61, as the new Prime Minister, heading the largest party in parliament.
Centre-left Labour is projected to win its first general election since 2005 by historic proportions, with pre-election polls forecasting its biggest-ever victory. However, Starmer urged voters not to become complacent, stressing, “Britain’s future is on the ballot. But change will only happen if you vote for it.”
Voting began at 7 am (0600 GMT) in over 40,000 polling stations across the country, ranging from church halls and community centres to pubs and even a ship. Sunak cast his ballot early at his Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire, while Starmer voted about two hours later in his north London seat.
“I just moved back from Australia and I’ve got the feeling that everything has turned wrong in this country and a lot of people are not satisfied,” said Ianthe Jacob, a 32-year-old writer, after voting in Hackney, east London. In Saint Albans, north of London, 22-year-old student Judith expressed, “I don’t really trust any of them but will vote. A lot of my friends feel the same.”
Voting closes at 10 pm (2100 GMT), after which broadcasters will announce exit polls, typically providing an accurate picture of the main parties’ performance. Results from the UK’s 650 constituencies will trickle in 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 Tories after 14 years of often chaotic rule, potentially ousting several government ministers, with speculation that even Sunak himself might not retain his seat. This would make him the first sitting Prime Minister to lose his seat in a general election.
“I appreciate people have frustrations with our party,” Sunak conceded on Wednesday. “But tomorrow’s vote… is a vote about the future.”
Sunak, 44, is widely seen as having run a lackluster campaign, with anger over his decision to leave D-Day commemorations in France early standing out as a significant misstep. In new blows on Wednesday, The Sun newspaper switched its allegiance to Labour — a key endorsement, as the tabloid has backed the winner at every election for several decades. This follows endorsements from the Financial Times, the Economist, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and The Daily Mirror.
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 place. YouGov, Focaldata, and More in Common all projected Labour would secure at least 430 seats, surpassing the 418 won under Tony Blair in 1997. The Conservatives could plunge to a record low of fewer than 127 seats, according to the trio’s predictions. The Lib Dems were expected to increase their seats from the current 15, while Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK party was set to win a handful.
If these predictions hold true, Sunak will visit King Charles III on Friday to tender his resignation as Prime Minister. Starmer will then meet the monarch to accept the invitation to form the next government and become Prime Minister.
The Labour leader will proceed to Downing Street, where he is expected to deliver a speech before making ministerial appointments. This 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 revitalizing creaking public services and a flatlining economy.
