The public is at the ballot box in England

People in the UK have started voting for early general elections at 07.00 local time. In the UK, people are going to the polls for early general elections. In the first general election held after the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), voters in the UK countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will determine the 650 members of the House of Commons and the new government. The voting process, which started at 07.00 local time for the elections, will continue until 22.00. According to British government sources, in the country with over 46 million registered voters as of the end of 2023, citizens are expressing their democratic choices at approximately 40,000 polling stations.
In the elections, 98 different political parties are competing. The new government to be formed will need the support of at least 326 members in the 650-member House of Commons. In case no party achieves a parliamentary majority, the first person to take on the responsibility of forming a coalition government will be the country’s prime minister. Among the 98 different political parties competing in the elections, the most prominent ones include the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, the Liberal Democrats led by Ed Davey, Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, the Scottish National Party (SNP) led by John Swinney, and the Green Party co-led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.
The closing of the voting process at 22.00 and the exit polls revealing the initial results of the election are expected, with the official results of the elections anticipated to be announced in the morning hours. The Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, whom polls indicate will achieve a historic victory in the general elections, said that if people vote for them, the UK can today ‘turn a new page.’ Urging voters to end the 14-year Conservative Party rule in his election day message, Starmer stated, ‘Britain’s future is on the ballot. Today, vote to leave the last 14 years behind.’ Promising a change in Britain if he enters the Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street, Starmer said, ‘Change will only be possible if you vote. Today, Britain can turn a new page. A hopeful and opportunistic new era begins after 14 years of chaos and decline. The potential of our great nation is limitless. The British people deserve a government that matches their ambitions. Today is an opportunity to start rebuilding Britain with the Labour Party.’
Ahead of the elections, some polls published by the British press indicated that the Conservative Party under Sunak’s leadership could face its heaviest defeat in history. The British press pointed out that the Conservative Party’s number of seats in the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament, could drop below 100, potentially resulting in Rishi Sunak losing the party leadership. The latest poll released this week by the polling company YouGov MRP showed that the Labour Party had 39%, the Conservative Party had 22%, Reform UK had 15%, the Liberal Democrats had 12%, and the Green Party had 7% of the vote share.