UK Voters Head to Polls in Crucial Election

Voters are going to the polls across the UK in a general election that is expected to deliver the first Labour government in 14 years.

Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened.

Writing on X as the polls opened, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said: “Change. Today, you can vote for it.” Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, posted a series of messages on the same site that urged voters to “stop the Labour supermajority”.

The contest closes six weeks of campaigning by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. It follows a period in which the UK has had three Conservative prime ministers in nearly five years.

It is the first election to take place in July since 1945, after Sunak took the country by surprise six weeks ago and called a summer poll.

Labour is seeking election on a platform of change, and has promised to create a new publicly owned energy company, nationalize the railways, cut net migration, recruit 6,500 teachers and create more than 100,000 new nursery places.

The Conservatives have promised to introduce compulsory national service for 18-year-olds, introduce an annual cap on migrant visas, recruit 8,000 police officers and cut a further 2p off national insurance with a view to abolishing it.

Senior Tories including one of Sunak’s closest cabinet allies were effectively conceding defeat. Starmer accused the Conservatives of trying to suppress voter turnout by presenting the election result as a done deal.

Labour has maintained its 20-point lead in opinion polls for the entirety of the election campaign and is hoping to make huge gains across England, Wales and Scotland.

All British citizens aged 18 or over are eligible to vote, as are citizens of Commonwealth countries and Ireland who are resident in the UK. Voters must have registered to vote in advance and must take a valid form of voter ID to the polling station.