UK Elections 2024: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer Go Head-To-Head In Historic Election; Exit Polls Soon | Highlights

Here are the top highlights from the UK Elections 2024 for July 4:

• UK Elections 2024: Polling across 40,000 polling booths for the 650 Parliamentary seats in the 2024 UK general elections. READ HERE

• Opinion Polls: Labour Party was projected to win by 99 per cent more seats than 1997, when Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister and a Labour government was formed. READ HERE

• Pets At Polling Booths: Several voters were seen bringing their pets, mostly cats and dogs, to the polling stations. The pets calmly waited for their parents to cast their ballot.

• All About The Candidates: From Conservative's Rishi Sunak to Labour's Sir Keir Starmer to Reform UK's Nigel Farage. READ HERE

• Exit Polls: The exit poll projections will begin after the closure of polling process at 10 pm.

• No Political News In The UK: As per the Ofcom rules, no discussions or analysis of elections are allowed after opening of polls and no opinion poll or exit polls are allowed to be broadcasted before closing of polls. Hence, there was no broadcasting of any political news in the UK for Thursday.

• Know Why: King Charles, Kate Middleton And The Royal Family Will Not Vote In The Elections. READ HERE

The Conservative Party, currently led by incumbent Rishi Sunak, has been in power for the past 14 years. The party formed the government in 2010 under Sir David Cameron and has stayed in power since then. However, pollsters have projected a landslide win for the Labour Party, hinting a shift from Tory rule.

Pollsters across the UK have projected a win for the Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer. As per various surveys conducted, the Labour Party is expected to win by a landslide, ousting the incumbent Conservatives out of the government.

As Britain heads to vote, some of the key issues on their minds is the state of the economy, the ongoing healthcare crisis in the NHS and the problem of immigration. Read more on the key issues at hand for the UK Elections.

For the first time, Voters will be required to carry a photographic identity to their respective polling booths when casting their ballot. Some of the documents you can carry are –

• A valid passport from the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, EEA state, or Commonwealth country (including an Irish Passport Card).

• A valid UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or EEA state driving licence.

• A biometric immigration document.

• An identity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (PASS card).

• Ministry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card).

• A Blue Badge.

• A national identity card issued by an EEA state.

• Various government-funded bus passes and travel cards for older or disabled persons.

• Electoral Identity Card issued in Northern Ireland

As Britain heads to vote, the leading candidates are Conservative Party leader and incumbent PM Rishi Sunak. Contesting Sunak is Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. Apart from these two, the following candidates are contesting the elections –

• Ed Davey - Liberal Democrats

• Nigel Farage - Reform UK Party

• John Swinney - Scottish National Party

• Rhun ap Iorwerth - Plaid Cymru (Party Of Wales)

• Gavin Robinson - Democratic Unionist Party

Read more about the key candidates in the UK Elections here.

For the UK Government, elections are being conducted for a total of 650 parliamentary constituencies. For a party to declare a majority and itself the winner, it must secure 326 seats.

Britain follows a “first past the post” system which means whoever has the clear majority is declared the winner.

In the 2019 general elections, the Conservative Party under former PM Boris Johnson was elected to power. The voter turnout was recorded at 67.3 percent.

Individuals who are registered on the electoral system and are of 18 years of age are eligible to vote. Voters must also either be a British citizen, have a qualifying Commonwealth citizenship or a citizen of the citizen of the Republic of Ireland.

For the 2024 elections, around 49 million people are expected to cast their vote.

Millions of Britons will head to the polls today to vote for their next government. Polling booths across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will open from 7 AM onwards.

Voters will have time to cast their ballots till 10 PM local time at their polling stations.

In his final message to voters on the last day of campaigning ahead of polling day, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Stop Labour Party's "supermajority", as most of the incumbent Conservatives seem to have all but conceded defeat in the landmark general election.

"This is what unites us. We need to stop the Labour supermajority that will put up your taxes. The only way to do that is to vote Conservative tomorrow," said the 44-year-old British Indian Conservative Party leader on social media, as he focused on drumming up support in the last few hours of the campaign trail.

(via AP)

On Thursday, July 4, around 40,000 polling booths across the country will open at 7 am (local time) for voters to mark a cross next to their chosen candidate on a paper ballot.

From this year, carrying an identification document to the polling booth has become compulsory in elections, which are open to all registered adult voters resident in the UK — including Indians as Commonwealth citizens.

Around 46.5 million Britons are eligible to vote in the UK election. The electorate votes for members of Parliament across 650 constituencies – with 326 required for a majority in the first past the post system.

Rishi Sunak, 44, is up against voter angst against the incumbent Tories after 14 years in power and has had to contend with trailing far behind 61-year-old Keir Starmer-led Labour Party throughout the six-week campaign.

Both leaders concluded their poll pitches with contrasting messages — Sunak urging voters not to hand a "supermajority" to “tax-raising” Labour and Starmer playing down the prospect of a landslide win for fear of a low turnout impacting the final outcome.

(Via AP)

Polling experts have forecast a low turnout, which was at 67 per cent in the last general election in December 2019 when Boris Johnson won a solid majority on his “get Brexit done” message.

If opinion polls are to be believed, the incumbent Tories are in line to win anywhere between 53 and 150 seats, with Labour projected to win a landslide.

The vote, called by UK PM Rishi Sunak, is being held months earlier than necessary and caught much of his party by surprise.

The 2019 General Election resulted in a Conservative victory. The party won 365 seats. The Labour Party won 202 seats.

The future of Rishi Sunak as Britain’s Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party will be sealed today as polling booths opened across the UK on Thursday, with millions expected to turn out to cast their votes in the general election.

Around 40,000 polling booths across the country opened at 7 am (local time) for voters to mark a cross next to their chosen candidate on a paper ballot.

Ahead of the general elections, polls have projected a historic defeat for incumbent PM Rishi Sunak, similar to the Labour wave seen in 1997 with the election of Tony Blair.

Polling stations across the UK have opened. Voters have time till 10 PM to cast their ballots.

As soon as the polling stations close at 10 PM, ecit polls will begin to give a a snapshot of where voters stand. A handful of the results will be announced before midnight while most constituency results are expected in the early hours of Friday.

With Britain deciding the fate of Sunak and his Conservative Party, the incumbent Prime Minister was spotted with his wife Akshata Murthy at a polling station today to cast their vote.

Sunak rose to the post of PM in October 2022 and is seeking a linger stint at the role with these snap elections.

For the first time in the history of general elections in the UK, voters are required to carry a photo ID card to their respective polling booths. Voters can carry their passport, bus pass and any other government identity card with the most recent photo on it.

In the UK, voting in the elections is not compulsory. It is entirely up to the voter if they wish to vote or not. However, it is recommended that all eligible voters go out and cast their ballot to choose the next goverment.

In the 2019 elections, the Conservative Party led by Boris Johnson won and came into power. However, after COVID and the partygate scandal, Johnson resgined as PM and was succeeded by Liz Truss.

Liz Truss also resigned and earned the title of the shortest term as UK PM, paving the way for incumbent Rishi Sunak to take office. Sunak is now seeking for a complete term as the prime minister.

With the UK elections underway, here what we need to know about the First-past-the-post voting system.

FPTP is a plurality voting system where voters cast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins the election. This method is used in the general elections, mayoral elections, local government posts and more.

In simple words, whichever candidates has the most votes is declared the winner. When it comes to which party is winning, of the 650 seats, whichever party crosses the 326 mark first, is declared the winner.

Yes and No.

King Charles III and other members of the royal family do have rights and are considered eligible voters. However, the King and the working members of the royal family often do not participate in the voting process. Here's why

Scottish First Minister and the leader of the Scottish National Party John Swinney has cast his vote for the UK Elections 2024.

Swinney has been part of the SNP since he was a 15-year-old boy and went on to lead the party from 2000 to 2004. With his 2024 bid, Swinney has vowed to work on independence negotiations for Scotland.

In the general elections, the majority mark to win the House of Commons is 326.

Similar to India, news and media channels are not allowed to report details of campaigning or election issues while the polls are open. Due to this, the exit polls and results of the general elections will start rolling out from 10 PM onwards.

The UK House of Commons has a total of 650 seats. Of these, the majority is currently held by the Conservative Party led by PM Rishi Sunak.

• Conservatives – 344 seats (52.9 percent)

• Labour – 205 seats (31.5 percent)

• Scottish National Party (SNP) – 43 seats (6.6 percent)

• Liberal Democrats – 15 seats (2.3 percent)

The remaining 43 seats of the house are held by nine other parties and independents.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria were spotted at the Willingham Tenants Hall in Kentish Town in north London to cast their vote.

Starmer has been projected to win the general elections with a landslide victory.

As Britons head to the polls, its been raining dogs at the polling booths. Several pet dogs were seen outside the polling booths as their owners went in to cast their ballot.

Reform UK is a far right party in the United Kingdom. The party is led by Nigel Farage, who is often known as a disruptor in British Politics. Farage, also known as a Brexiteer, is contesting the general elections and has vowed to "Make Britain Great Again" by pushing his anti-immigrant agenda.

Ahead of the polls, various surveys have listed the key issues at the top of voters' mind as they cast their ballots. Some of the issues listed are -

• the state of the economy

• healthcare crisis and long NHS waiting lists

• Immigration and small boats across the channel

• Taxation system

Read here to know more on the key issues at stake as Britain goes to vote.

With polling underway, major pollsters in the UK are projecting a "landslide victory" for the Labour Party and its leader Sir Keir Starmer.

As per the latest projections, the Labour Party is expected to return to power with "99 percent more seats than 1997".

In 1997, Tony Blair was elected as Prime Minister and a Labour government came into power after serving 18 years as the opposition. Blair also became the youngest Prime Minister of the twentieth-century and stayed in this role till 2007.

Read More Here | Labour Headed For Landslide Victory? Pollsters Project '99% More Seats Than 1997'

Polling stations opened at 7 AM BST across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For the general elections, a total of 40,000 polling booths have been set up and around 49 million people are expected to come out and vote.

The polling booths are set to close at 10 PM, following which the highly anticipated exit polls will begin.

With UK choosing a new prime minister today, 10 Downing Street's Larry the stray cat awaits the new owners of the house. Rishi Sunak, the incumbent moved into the official residence in October 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of Christmas Parties held at 10 DOwning Street surfaced in newspapers. While the country was in lockdown, dealing with mass deaths, several UK politicians were spotted having parties without any restrictions.

However, Johnson stated that no rules were broken during the gathering. The scandal, which was one of the major turning points in Johnson's tenure as PM, ultimately led to his resignation as an MP. In 2022, after a major revolt by the Tories, Johnson stepped down as PM.

Since 2019, the United Kingdom has had three prime ministers. In 2019, Conservatives led by Boris Johnson won the election and formed the government.

Following COVID-19 and Partygate, Johnson resigned and Liz Truss took over. Liz Truss became the shortest-serving PM of the UK after she resigned on her 50th day in the office amid a government crisis.

After Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak was selected as the leader and made Prime Minister, making him Britain's first India-origin leader.

For the first time, all voters are required to carry an official form of photo identification with them to cast a vote. If you have a polling card, you can carry it as it would make the process easier but a photo ID is a must.

As per BBC Weather, the north and west of the country will see some of the heaviest and most frequent rain on polling day. Whereas, the Southern and eastern parts of England will see sunny and dry weather. Despite the difference in the sun and rains, strong winds will be a common constant for all.

With the high stakes elections underway, this year the new constituency boundaries are being used to reflect population changes and to even out voter numbers.

Keeping this in mind, voters can check their constituency details and find their nearest polling station by using the official tool shared on the UK Parliament website.

Just enter your postcode, name or location in the search box and the tool will tell you which constituency you are in.

Once the UK general elections are over, the new prime minister will be elected and name his cabinet of government ministers. The Parliament is due to return on July 9.

After the ruling party is announced, the Speaker of the House of Commons will be elected. Each MP will then in turn swear the oath of allegiance to the king.

The After this, the State Opening of Parliament and King’s Speech will take place on July 17. However, this date is subject to change by the new government

Dogs were a common occurrence at polling stations across Britain as voters cast their ballots. However, as the voting continues, many people brought their pets along with them, and some of the times, they were not dogs.

A snake named Neptune was spotted outside a polling station in Dorset. Meanwhile, in 2021, a chicken named Matilda got separated from her owner - a five-year-old boy during the local government elections.

Britain's first Indian-origin prime minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak is aiming for a longer stint as the leader. Sunak assumed his role as the UK prime minister in October 2022, following the resignation of Liz Truss

Voted as one of the worst PM's in the UK, Sunak may be a people's person but his popularity rate across Britain and his party remain at an all-time low.

The 44-year-old leader has stressed that he is bringing Britain back in order and has "steadied the ship". However, critics state otherwise.

In 2019, the Conservative Part won under Boris Johnson, who resigned in 2022 following the Partygate scandal. Tories won with a total of 365 seats.

As polling continues, various surveys across the UK have predicted a major win for the Labour Party led by Sir Keir Starmer. Pollsters have projected a win similar to the 1997 win for Labour which saw Tony Blair as Prime Minister.

During general elections in the UK, broadcasters such as BBC, Sky news and more have strict rules. Based on these, no election campaigning, politics and other stories are allowed, at least until the polls are closed.

These rules are in place to prevent any influence over how people choose to vote. Media is also not allowed to publish the results of any opinion poll on election day until the polling ends at 10 PM BST.

Nigel Farage is known by many names, but the most commons ones are - Brexiteer and Disruptor. Leading the far-right Reform UK party, Farage has brought contest to the Conservatives for the 2024 bid.

The 60-year-old leader has long divided opinions with his anti-migrant and Euroskeptic stance. With his promises to focus on "British values", Farage is capturing Conservative voters.

Farage's election slogan also gives a nod to former US president Donald Trump - "Make Britain Great Again".

As per the MRP survey conducted by YouGov, the Labour Party is headed for a landslide victory. YouGov has predicted 431 seats for the Keir Starmer led party.

Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are expected to secure 102 seats, followed by the Liberal Democrats at 72. The UK Elections exit polls will begin after 10 PM BST. The final results are expected to be out on Friday.

This is the first general election in the UK where voters will need a photographic ID to be allowed to cast their vote. Here are some documents voters can take with them to cast their ballot -

• UK or Northern Ireland photocard driving licence (full or provisional)

• driving licence issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands

• UK passport

• passport issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, or a Commonwealth country

• PASS card (National Proof of Age Standards Scheme)

• Blue Badge

• biometric residence permit (BRP)

• Defence Identity Card (MOD form 90)

• national identity card issued by the EU, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein

• Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Card

• Voter Authority Certificate

• Anonymous Elector's Document

It's a long way to go before we get the exit polls for the general elections. Based on the rules in place in Britain, opinion polls and exit polls are allowed once polling ends - which will happen at 10 PM BST.

Hence, it will be an all nighter for UK with exit polls scheduled to begin after 10 PM BST.

As per the UK Parliament website, following the results of the UK elections 2024, the Parliament will return for electing the Speaker on July 9. Along with this, the elected MPs and members of the House of Lords will take oath.

The Parliament will formally open on July 17.

Even if you are voting as someone's proxy, you need to carry your own ID and not theirs.

Many parents were seen arriving with their kids, even months-old babies, at the polling stations. And to answer the question of whether voters can bring their kids to the voting centres, they indeed can.

However, it is to be noted that the children cannot mark their parent's vote on the ballot paper.

As voting for the 2024 UK general elections is underway, what nobody can't get enough of, is the continued visiting of human's best friend, dogs, at the polling stations.

Election analysts and experts -- psephologists -- are headed to the exit poll bunker to determine how Britons have voted in the UK general elections and what will likely be the fate of the Parliament.

Director of political analysts at YouGuv, Patrick English, took to the microblogging site X to informed that he would be heading into the exit poll bunker shortly with an "awesome crack team of British psephologists led by John Curtice".

"We’ll do everything in our power between now and 10pm to understand and report back to you how the public has voted," he added.

Posters at Notre Dame primary school told voters to number their choice of candidates in the order of preference, using Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, rather than marking "X" under the first-past-the-post system.

According to BBC, the council said that a few voters in Glasgow West had seen the advisory poster and taken it down promptly.

However, the Glasgow City Council reassured voters that their ballots will be counted even after the incorrect advice at the polling station.

Larry, the Downing Street cat, was recruited in 2011 under the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron to get rid of mice. He was given the formal title of "Chief Mouser".

Since then, he has been the one stable figure in the last 14 years of the UK's political atmosphere.

For the UK elections 2024, Larry also set out a campaign manifesto on his official handle, @Number10cat. "I don't get to vote in the general election but I do have to live with whoever you elect. No pressure," one of the posts after Sunak's election announcement read.

"Whatever the result of the election, I'll be here to keep an eye on things," another post read.

No photos or selfies are allowed inside the polling stations, to ensure fair elections.

No picture of any voting process inside the polling stations should captured. Notably any broken law would result in a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in prison.

However, pictures outside the polling stations are allowed.

After the conclusion of polling process, exit polls provide a fair idea of what would the results look like for the government.

The current model followed in the UK was devised by Professor John Curtice and statistician David Firth and it has been a reliable model since, barring 2015 when opposite to hung parliament predictions, David Cameron got a thin majority.

Remarkably, the projections for the number of seats for the Conservative Party in 2010 were predicted correctly.

Though voters are welcome to bring their own pens to cast their votes, polling stations provide them with pencils.

As per the Electoral Commission, pencils are preferred over pens for practical reasons as ink pens may run out or smudge on the ballot paper, leading to their potential rejection if they are spoilt.

None of the broadcasters in the UK have been streaming any political news today, the day of voting. This is because Ofcom rules bar them from broadcasting any discussion or analysis of election issues after the polls open, which they did at 7 am.

They are also not allowed to roll out any opinion poll results until the closing of the voting process at 10 pm.

These rules are to ensure that no voter is influenced on their choice of voting.

As the clock struck a little over 8 pm, the polling process has begun nearing its end. The voting, which began at 7 am, will conclude at 10 pm.