UK general election live: millions of voters head to the polls

Rishi Sunak said: “If Labour are handed a blank cheque, they will use their supermajority to tax you more for the rest of your life.”

Starmer said on Twitter/X: “I’ve changed the Labour Party. If you put your trust in me by voting Labour, I will change the country.”

The chancellor, who is at risk of losing his seat, has cast his vote in the election (Seren Hughes writes).

Jermey Hunt faces a considerable challenge from the Liberal Democrats in the new Godalming & Ash constituency.

If Hunt loses he would become the first serving chancellor to be usurped on election night. He has admitted spending six hours a day knocking on doors in the hope of retaining his seat.

The exit poll is the first indication of how the parties have fared (Ed Halford writes).

The poll is commissioned by Sky News, the BBC and ITV News and the fieldwork carried out by Ipsos UK, which has interviewers at 133 polling stations around the country.

The locations of the polling stations are chosen to best reflect the demographics of the country, combining both urban and rural areas. The data is sent to the broadcasters’ statisticians and political scientists, locked down in a secret location in the capital.

The exit poll is released when voting finishes at 10pm.

The only polling card posted through Kate Garraway’s door was for her late husband Derek Draper (Seren Hughes writes).

Speaking about polling day on Good Morning Britain, the presenter said: “I haven’t had one for myself. The only polling card that’s come through the door is for Derek, sadly, who’s passed away.”

Draper, a former New Labour strategist, died earlier this year aged 56 after suffering long-lasting Covid symptoms.

The postal vote system needs to be overhauled, the Association of Electoral Administrators (AEA) has warned (Ed Halford writes).

Laura Lock, the AEA’s deputy chief executive, said the deadline for postal votes should be moved five days earlier. Currently the deadline is 11 working days before polling day.

Lock also said that voters who did not receive their postal ballots should be allowed emergency proxy votes on polling day.

“Election teams are doing their very best to run this snap election, but with a short timetable and an election held when many are on holiday — plus print and delivery suppliers working at capacity — demand has severely tested the system,” she said.

A removal van was seen outside his property at lunchtime today

STEVE BACK

A removal van has appeared outside Michael Gove’s government-owned residence in One Carlton Gardens, near Buckingham Palace.

It has been previously reported that he would vacate the property on July 5 after he announced he was stepping down at the election.

The £25 million mansion is usually reserved for the foreign secretary.

Hussein Jabar, the owner of Gadz Cafe in Finsbury Park, has named a dish after the former Labour leader

KIERAN GAIR FOR THE TIMES

Comparisons between candidates and rock stars are few and far between in British politics. So for voters visiting Gadz Cafe in Finsbury Park, where the owner’s loyalty to Jeremy Corbyn runs deep, you’d be forgiven for doing a double take.

Pictures of Corbyn, an independent candidate standing in Islington North against Labour’s Praful Nargund, sit side by side with pictures of Elvis Presley.

“First Jeremy is my best friend, and second Jeremy is a star — just like Elvis,” said Hussein Jabar, the cafe’s owner, beaming across a counter littered with pro-Corbyn pamphlets.

Jabar’s loyalty also extends to naming a middle eastern staple after the former Labour leader. For voters stopping for lunch after casting their ballots in Islington North, Gadz Cafe offers a dish called the “Jeremy Corbyn falafel”.

Labour’s Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting have been very prominent in election coverage while other major party figures including David Lammy and Ed Miliband have been almost absent, research shows.

A Loughborough University study has monitored television election coverage on several channels, as well as the most prominent articles in ten newspapers throughout the campaign, counting instances that a politician “is reported as doing something or saying something in an active way”.

Read in full: Media analysis reveals who’s in Labour limelight — and who’s out

Michelle O’Neill, the Northern Ireland first minister, has voted at a polling station at St Patrick’s Primary School in Clonoe, Co Tyrone.

She briefly spoke with a Sinn Fein member in a makeshift mobile outside the polling station. O’Neill spent several minutes inside to cast her vote.

Asked by photographers for a thumbs-up, she laughed and joked: “Will a smile do?” As she left the polling station, she shouted goodbye to local children and waved to voters.

Kemi Badenoch has blamed the local council in her North West Essex constituency for failing to carry out “basic functions” after thousands of postal votes were not sent.

The minister may be unable to stand in a possible Tory leadership election as there may have to be a by-election in the seat after a “human error” led to 2,600 ballots not being delivered.

The minister said the council has “potentially disenfranchised” thousands of voters due to the error.

The head of the local council said he is “mortified” by the mistake and will consider his position.

The leader of the House of Commons is standing in Portsmouth North

The leader of the House of Commons and future Tory leadership hopeful Penny Mordaunt has posed for a photo next to a white electric Honda which has been emblazoned with the slogan: “Vote Penny to save your pennies.”

She is standing in her Portsmouth North constituency and the final YouGov MRP poll predicted the Labour Party could gain this seat, while other polls have said it is too close to call.

Even using the most optimistic poll, Rishi Sunak’s party may end up at least 200 seats down on the 365 they won in 2019. This leaves lots of room for high-profile Conservative casualties.

Liz Truss, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps could find themselves without a seat, and Rishi Sunak could become the first incumbent prime minister in history to lose their seat at an election.

Read in full here: From Jeremy Hunt to Penny Mordaunt, which Tory MPs could lose seats

Raj Persaud, natty in suit and tie, jumped out of the 1969 Jaguar 420G saloon. With a picture of Corbyn emblazoned on the vehicle’s front passenger door, Persaud’s car is anything but inconspicuous.

In Islington North on election day, however, eye-catching displays of political allegiance could be the difference between Corbyn, an independent candidate, and Praful Nargund, Labour’s candidate, from clinching victory in the marginal seat.

Flyers for both candidates are dotted across businesses in Islington North but few are as open in their allegiance to Corbyn as that of Gadz Cafe in Finsbury Park.

Raj Persaud — and his 1969 Jaguar 420G saloon — are proudly supporting Corbyn

KIERAN GAIR/THE TIMES

Pictures of the former Labour leader’s face — some encircled by hearts — adorn both the interior and exterior of the cafe.

Yet despite the intense focus on the north London seat, Islington Town Hall was decidedly quiet on Thursday morning.

Sandie Randle’s alpacas Dumbledore and Apollo made an appearance at a polling station in Painswick, Gloucestershire

PAUL NICHOLLS PHOTOGRAPHY

As voters head to ballot for the general election — some in more unusual locations than others — animals and celebrities also join the queues.

Full gallery here: Dogs (and horses) at polling stations as the nation votes

Hidden behind a gargantuan cabbage and then gesturing a peace sign in a Churchillian fashion, a celebrity chef better known for his recipes than political endorsements has rallied Green Party support.

In a video posted on Twitter/X, Hugh Fearnley-Whttingstall said he was voting for a “brighter, greener future”.

He said the Green Party would press the new government for “better food and farming, adjust transition to a greener economy and faster bolder reforms to our frontline services”.

Unlike the lettuce which became a satirical symbol for Liz Truss’s rapid fall from grace, the cabbage has been used to flout his green credentials.

The shadow chancellor cast her vote in Pudsey, Leeds

ERNESTO ROGATA/ALAMY

Labour’s Rachel Reeves will make history tomorrow as the first female chancellor if she is elected in Leeds West.

She was photographed casting her ballot in Pudsey moments ago.

The Reform UK leader is expected to win the Essex resort town

CLODAGH KILCOYNE/REUTERS

Nigel Farage starts off the day with a seaside treat in Clacton-on-Sea, the constituency in which he hopes to finally win a seat.

If successful tomorrow, the Reform UK leader would enter the House of Commons on his eighth attempt.

Farage also appealed to his followers on Instagram with a picture of a dog at a polling station.

Times Radio
From 9.55pm Andrew Neil, William Hague, Peter Mandelson and Ayesha Hazarika team up with Matt Chorley and Kate McCann on election night — kicking off 100 hours of live coverage. Join John Pienaar, Jane Garvey, Fi Glover and Patrick Maguire as they present from around the country and hear exclusive updates and analysis from The Times and Sunday Times political reporters live from our newsroom.

BBC TV and Radio
Laura Kuenssberg and Clive Myrie anchor the coverage on BBC1 alongside the political editor Chris Mason and Professor Sir John Curtice.

ITV
Tom Bradby helms election night, joined by Robert Peston, Anushka Asthana and Paul Brand, with analysis from the professors Jane Green and Colin Rallings.

Read in full here: Election night TV coverage: how and where to watch live results

Davey and his wife, Emily, at Surbiton Hill Methodist Church

EPA

Sir Ed Davey and his wife, Emily, have visited a polling station in Surbiton, southwest London, to vote.

Davey said “good morning everybody” to the assembled media and waved to the cameras.

As the pair prepared to enter Surbiton Hill Methodist Church, a voter left the polling station and wished the Lib Dem leader “good luck”.

As the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar leaves a polling station in Glasgow with his wife, Furheen, and son, Aliyan, a protester follows behind

WATTIE CHEUNG

With the final MRP YouGov poll predicting a Labour majority of 212 seats, the former chancellor George Osborne spoke about one dilemma every Downing Street occupant has faced at the election approaches — “do you pack up the flat or not?”

Writing in The Spectator, Osborne recalled his job of briefing John Major, former prime minister, about the newspaper coverage each morning and the awkward moment when he told Major in 1997, The Sun believes “you can’t win”.

He wrote: “The day before polling, I crept into the flat and I was confronted by stacks of boxes. The Majors had packed up. The Blairs didn’t with their elections; nor did the Camerons. I wonder what the Sunaks will do?”

A woman dressed in a bear suit urged the Labour leader to support faux fur caps for the King’s Guard uniform

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL

Dozens of photographers and camera crews from around the world were waiting for Sir Keir Starmer, reflecting global expectation that he will become the next prime minister.

About 50 media representatives from as far away as Japan were waiting for the Labour leader for an hour before he arrived at his local polling station in Kentish Town, reporting live from around the world as what the German TV station n-tv predicted would be a “triumphal” election win.

As well as peaceful pro-Gaza protestors supporting a local independent candidate, Starmer was greeted by a woman in a bear suit urging him to support fur-free caps for the King’s Guard uniform— a topic he is unlikely to bring up if summoned to Buckingham Palace tomorrow.

More than a dozen police officers were also at the polling station, with Starmer slipping out the back entrance to avoid the crowd.

A YouGov poll has found that 28 per cent of Britons believe the outcomes of general elections have little to no impact on their own lives personally.

Older people are generally more likely to say that general elections don’t have much of an impact on the individual level, with one in five of those aged 18 to 24 (21 per cent) feeling this way compared with 36 per cent of those aged 65 and over.

Labour voters were most inclined to think that the outcomes of general elections mattered a “great deal” at 65 per cent and Reform voters were most likely to believe they did not matter very much (18 per cent).

Starmer arrived hand-in-hand with his wife, Victoria, at Willingham Tenants Hall, Kentish Town

REUTERS

Sir Keir Starmer has voted at his local polling station in Kentish Town, north London.

Accompanied by his wife, Victoria, Starmer arrived to vote at 9.40 and was greeted by cheers and shouts of “good luck” from the crowd.

However, there were also several supporters of the pro-Gaza independent candidate Andrew Feinstein, who has run a very prominent local campaign in protest at Labour’s stance on the Middle East.

Liz Truss, who has been kept well away from the national campaign by party organisers, has cast her vote in South West Norfolk, her former constituency.

She is facing a challenge from the independent candidate James Bagge, the Labour party’s nominee Terry Jermy and the Liberal Democrats’ Josie Ratcliffe.

Jeremy Corbyn posted a photo of himself outside a polling station in his north London constituency.

The former Labour leader is running as an independent in Islington North.

Corbyn has won the seat for Labour at every general election since 1983, but is no longer a member of the party after he was banned by Sir Keir Starmer.

Labour is on track to win the largest majority of any party in modern history, a major poll has suggested, as Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer made their final appeals for support.

As voters go to the polls on Thursday, the last YouGov survey of the campaign found that Labour was on track for a 212-seat majority, with the Conservatives reduced to just 102 MPs.

However, Sunak urged voters who had abandoned his party to return, saying that they had the “power to prevent an unchecked Labour government”.

Read in full here: Labour will win biggest majority since 1832, final MRP poll predicts

Boris Johnson has encouraged his followers to vote against the “nightmare” wokery and the tax rises of a future Labour government.

In a last ditch appeal to voters, the former prime minister appeared at the eleventh hour at a rally in London with Rishi Sunak on Tuesday. However, Sunak and Johnson did not share the stage.

In a video on Twitter/X, Johnson said: “So I’m on my way to the polling station where I’m going to cast my vote against the nightmare prospect of a left-wing government.

“More left-wing than any since the war, with more wokery, more illegal immigration, more pointless, powerless kowtowing to Brussels, and of course ever-higher taxation for you and your family under Keir Starmer and the Labour Party. Don’t let it happen, vote Conservative today, get out and vote today, it’s a beautiful day.”

The Scottish first minister and his son Matthew in Blairgowrie, Perthshire

JANE BARLOW/PA WIRE

John Swinney, the Scottish first minister, has taken his son Matthew, 14, along with him to vote in the general election this morning.

They arrived at Burrelton Village Hall in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, to cast a ballot.

After six weeks of claims, counterclaims, stunts and controversy the politicians have run out of time to make their case to the people. Now it is up to all the rest of us to decide who will run Britain for the next five years.

Here we guide you through the night after voting ends.

10pm Within seconds of the polls closing at 10pm, broadcasters will announce the results of the exit poll that will predict the number of seats each party will have in the next parliament.

11 – midnight The race will be on to become the first constituency in the country to declare a result.

Read our full guide here: When will the election results be announced? Hour-by-hour timings

The former prime minister stood down as an MP in March

DAVID HARTLEY

Theresa May has been spotted stroking a dog as she votes at a polling station in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

The former prime minister, who stood down as an MP after 27 years in March, was joined by her husband Philip.

Britain’s churches, community halls, schools and cafes around the country will play host to the public exercising its democratic right today. Here is a selection of the quirkier locations where people will be voting.

Voters outside the makeshift polling station in Battersea Power Station, southwest London

TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS

Voters in Sheffield South East constituency take a punt at Kings Boxing Club

SWNS

Jackie and Alan Ward get the wheels in motion at their polling station caravan in Whitehall Gardens, Cambridgeshire

SWNS

Grand entrance — Heatherbelle Bates in Holne, Devon

SWNS

Today’s general election will be the first in which people casting ballots will need to bring voter ID with them.

Those visiting polling stations must show a driving licence, a passport, or an older or disabled person’s bus pass when they arrive.

Data collected in polling stations at the local elections showed that at least 0.25 per cent of people who tried to vote at a polling station were not issued with a ballot paper because of the ID requirement.

The political map of Britain has been adjusted this year after the Boundary Commission expanded 76 seats and reduced 73.

Sunak and his wife smile as they set to cast their vote, but at least one poll predicts the PM will lose his seat

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have arrived at their local polling station in Kirby Sigston, North Yorkshire, to cast their vote in the general election.

Sunak currently enjoys a majority of over 25,000, but at least one MRP poll has predicted he will lose the seat to Labour, which would make him the first sitting PM to do so.

The betting markets give him a 2/5 chance of keeping the seat.

Raphael waits patiently for his owner to vote in Dunsford

ALAMY

Raphael the Golden Retriever poses for a picture in Dunsford, Devon, as he becomes one of the thousands of dogs joining their humans at polling stations today.

While broadcasters have to obey strict election-day rules, parties can still promote their messages on social media as voters head to the polls.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, writing on Twitter/X as polls opened, said: “Change. Today, you can vote for it.”

Before 7am, Rishi Sunak posted a series of messages urging voters to “stop the Labour supermajority”.