London: Early results have begun to trickle in as polling booths in the United Kingdom closed at 10 pm (2:30 am IST) as the exit poll on Thursday night predicted a massive defeat for the Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and a landslide victory for Keir Starmer's Labour Party. This effectively means that the 61-year-old Starmer is set to take the reins as the next British PM.
According to the exit poll, which is often quite close to the final tally, Labour could win as many as 410 seats, comfortably crossing the half-way 326 mark required for a majority and notching up a 170-seat majority with the incumbent Tories down to just 131 seats. Labour's candidate Bridget Phillipson was the winner of the first result declared in Houghton and Sunderland in north-east England. The first win for Conservatives was in Rayleigh and Wickford. The Liberal Democrats wrested the seat of Harrogate and Knaresborough from the Conservatives, according to BBC.
Starmer, looking set to take charge at 10 Downing Street on Friday, took to social media with a message for voters: "To everyone who has campaigned for Labour in this election, to everyone who voted for us and put their trust in our changed Labour Party — thank you."
Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak's future as the leader of the Conservative Party now hangs in the balance, amid murmurs that he may be replaced by Kemi Badenoch, due to failing to fulfill his election promises and being unable to resolve economic problems, housing shortages and record immigration in the UK. "To the hundreds of Conservative candidates, thousands of volunteers and millions of voters: Thank you for your hard work, thank you for your support, and thank you for your vote," he said on X.
If the poll comes true, it will be a remarkable turnaround for the Labour Party, which had its worst post-war election result in 2019, when the Conservatives under Boris Johnson won an 80-seat majority. On the other hand, the Conservatives may avoid a wipe-out but are still set for the worst result in the history of the party, as they are set to lose around 240 MPs.
Around 40,000 polling booths were operating across the country from 7 am local time for an estimated 46 million registered voters to mark a cross next to their chosen candidate on a paper ballot. Polling experts have forecast a low turnout, which stood at 67 per cent in the last general election in December 2019 when Johnson won 365 seats
What about other parties?
Meanwhile, the far-right, anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage is also looking to emerge as a new force in British politics, with an election exit poll on Thursday predicting it would win 13 seats, squeezing the Conservative vote. It finished second in the first three results. The Ed Davey-led Liberal Democrats were predicted to win 61 seats in the Parliament, along with 10 for John Swinney's Scottish National Party (SNP)
Polling company Savanta's Political Research Director Chris Hopkins said if the exit poll was right, it would be "dream scenario" for Farage, who is eyeing a seat in the Parliament for the eight time. "He'll be rubbing his hands with glee. He's got enough MPs (lawmakers) to make a racket in Westminster, and the party he shares the closest political space with could be reduced to a long period of soul searching," he said.
Sunak, 44, was facing the impossible challenge of overcoming voter anger against the incumbent Tories after 14 turbulent years in power, wracked by infighting and scandals. The 61-year-old Keir Starmer-led Labour Party, meanwhile, maintained a strong lead over the Tories throughout the six-week campaign.
UK Elections: How the polls went
In the first hour, polls were open, and Sunak made the short journey from his home to vote at Kirby Sigston Village Hall in his Richmond constituency in northern England. He arrived with his wife, Akshata Murty, and walked hand-in-hand into the village hall, which was surrounded by rolling fields. The centre-left Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has had a steady and significant lead in opinion polls for months, but its leaders have warned against taking the election result for granted, worried their supporters will stay home.
A couple of hours after posting that message, Starmer walked hand-in-hand with his wife, Victoria, into a polling place in the Kentish Town section of London to cast his vote. He left through a back door out of sight of a crowd of residents and journalists who had gathered. Labour has not set pulses racing with its pledges to get the sluggish economy growing, invest in infrastructure and make Britain a “clean energy superpower.” But nothing has really gone wrong in its campaign.
Before the polls even began, the Conservatives had acknowledged that Labour appears headed for victory. In a message to voters on Wednesday, Sunak said that “if the polls are to be believed, the country could wake up tomorrow to a Labour supermajority ready to wield their unchecked power.” He urged voters to back the Conservatives to limit Labour's power.
Former Labour candidate Douglas Beattie, author of the book “How Labour Wins (and Why it Loses),” said Starmer's “quiet stability probably chimes with the mood of the country right now.” The Conservatives, meanwhile, have been plagued by gaffes. The campaign got off to an inauspicious start when rain drenched Sunak as he made the announcement outside 10 Downing St. Then, Sunak went home early from commemorations in France marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
(with inputs from agencies)
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