Britons voted on Thursday in a parliamentary election that is expected to bring Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to power, sweeping away Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives after 14 often turbulent years.
Opinion polls put Starmer’s center-left party on course for a landslide victory but also suggest many voters simply want change after a period of infighting and turmoil under the Conservatives that led to five prime ministers in eight years.
This means Starmer, a 61-year-old former human rights lawyer, could take office with one of the biggest to-do lists in British history but without a groundswell of support or the financial resources to tackle it.
“Today, Britain can begin a new chapter,” Starmer told voters in a statement on Thursday. “We cannot afford five more years under the Conservatives. But change will only happen if you vote Labour.”
Sunak, 44, voted early with his wife, Akshata Murty, in the electoral district of Richmond in northern England that he represents in parliament. Starmer cast his ballot around 0830 GMT with his wife in his north London constituency.
Having called the election months earlier than expected, Sunak has in recent weeks abandoned his call for a fifth consecutive Conservative victory, switching instead to warning of the dangers of an unchallenged Labour Party in parliament.
Meanwhile, the UK general election results are most likely to be announced on the early morning of July 5th between 3 am and 5am GMT.
