Britain is voting today in a general election widely expected to hand a landslide win to the opposition Labour, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.
The first national election since Boris Johnson won the Tories a decisive victory in 2019 follows PM Rishi Sunak’s surprise call to hold the polls six months earlier than required.
The gamble might backfire spectacularly, as surveys conducted through the six-week campaign pointed to a heavy defeat for the right-wing party and almost certainly put Labour leader Keir Starmer, 61, in Downing Street, with an almost supermajority.
The UK operates under a first-past-the-post system where voters elect representatives from 650 constituencies. The party that wins most seats – at least 326 – will form the government. Its leader will become the Prime Minister. In the case that no party secures a majority, the existing PM gets the first opportunity to form a coalition government.
The main political parties in the fray include the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Labour led by Keir Starmer, the Liberal Democrats led by Ed Davey, the 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.
