Parliamentary election - UK votes: Prime Minister Sunak faces heavy defeat
United Kingdom is steering towards a government change: Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party are predicted to suffer a historic defeat in the Parliament election. Opinion polls suggest that the Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, is set to secure a significant victory. Starmer, a 61-year-old, is expected to move into Downing Street as Sunak's successor.
Millions of people can cast their votes at polling stations before they close at 10:00 PM (GMT). After that, a projection is anticipated. The Conservatives have been in power in the United Kingdom for 14 years, with premiers like Boris Johnson and Liz Truss at the helm. Now, a political shift may be on the horizon.
Assessment of the situation by a polling expert
Projections indicate that Labour will secure over 400 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. This puts the party on course to gain the largest majority since around 1900. However, Labour is not particularly popular. "This is a loss for the Tories - not a win for Labour," said John Curtice, a polling expert from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, to Politico.
Surveys show Labour receiving less than 40% of the votes. In the British first-past-the-post electoral system, only the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the seat. All other votes have no effect.
Another reason is the growing support for smaller parties such as the Liberal Democrats, who, according to some surveys, could replace the Conservatives as the strongest opposition party, as well as the right-wing populist Reform UK party.
King Charles III issues order for government formation
The 650 constituencies will still be counted until Friday morning. King Charles III will officially commission the new Prime Minister on Friday for government formation.
Many people brought their dogs to the polling stations, and some shared pictures on social media using the hashtag #DogsAtPollingStations.
Starmer casts his vote at his residence in North London, accompanied by his wife Victoria. It's about the future of Britain, he wrote on the platform X. Britain cannot afford another five years of conservative government, Starmer emphasized in his last speech before the vote. Starmer previously worked as a lawyer, headed the Crown Prosecution Service, and has led his party for four years.
Sunak faces a test in his constituency
Prime Minister Sunak cast his vote shortly after the polling stations opened. Accompanied by his wife Akshata Murty, the 44-year-old appeared in the village of Kirby Sigston in the North of England and waved to the photographers. It is possible that Sunak, who has been in office since October 2022, could lose his constituency - Richmond and Northallerton - and miss re-entry into Parliament.
Sunak has been Prime Minister since October 2022. "If Labour gets a blank check, they will use their supermajority to tax you more heavily for the rest of your life," Sunak wrote on X. However, such a "supermajority" does not exist in the British parliamentary system. It is the same whether a party in the House of Commons has a majority of 20 or 200 seats.
Britons must present identification for voting
Over 46 million people are eligible to vote, each with one vote. It is the first Parliament election where an official ID must be shown for voting. Nearly 6.7 million people opted for postal voting.
All 650 seats in the House of Commons are given out through direct mandates. The absolute majority in the House of Commons is 326 seats. In the latest election in 2019, the Conservatives won 365 seats, Labour had 202 seats.
Conservatives hope for damage limitation
Experts emphasized that the Conservatives are now only focusing on damage control. Before the polling stations opened, Sunak repeatedly posted on X that the Labour party was planning tax increases on a broad scale. This assessment is not correct, according to Labour leader Starmer, who denied the allegations.
Starmer announced a "new era of hope and opportunities." "This is a great nation with limitless potential," Starmer said on the eve of the election. "The British people deserve a government that meets their aspirations. Today we have the chance to begin the rebuilding of Britain together with Labour."
Reasons for the decline of the Conservatives are numerous. Above all, numerous scandals and affairs, especially under the former prime minister Boris Johnson, have destroyed the trust of the people in the Tory party, which has been in power for 14 years. Added to this is economic stagnation.
The right-wing populist party Reform, led by Nigel Farage who significantly advanced the Brexit cause, could make its first entry into parliament. It is unclear how many constituencies the former Brexit Party can win. Experts mainly calculate that Farage and Co. will cost the Conservatives many votes on the right wing.
Post from Sunak on X [
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- Keir Starmer, the Labour Party leader, is expected to move into Downing Street as Rishi Sunak's successor if the projections showing a significant Labour victory in the Parliamentary election hold true.
- In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is predicted to suffer a historic defeat, with surveys suggesting that the Labour Party could secure over 400 seats in the House of Commons.
- John Curtice, a polling expert from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, noted that while this is a loss for the Conservatives, it is not necessarily a win for Labour, as the party is not particularly popular.
- King Charles III will officially commission the new Prime Minister for government formation after all 650 constituencies have been counted and the results are formally announced on Friday morning.
- Liverpool FC fan Keir Starmer, accompanied by his wife Victoria, cast his vote in North London, emphasizing that Britain cannot afford another five years of conservative government.
- Liz Truss, who served as Prime Minister before Rishi Sunak, and Boris Johnson, who led the Conservative Party for three years, are among the premiers who have been in power during the 14 years of Conservative rule in Great Britain.
- The Tories are now focusing on damage control, with experts predicting that the right-wing populist Reform UK party, led by Nigel Farage, could make its first entry into parliament and cost the Conservatives many votes on the right wing.
