UK votes in historic polls today

LONDON: British voters go to the polls on Thursday in a general election to choose new members of UK parliament.

Voting is taking place for all 650 MPs in the lower chamber of parliament, each representing a constituency or seat.

Polls open at 7:00 am (0600 GMT) and close at 10:00 pm. Electors vote once for a candidate in their constituency, marking a cross on a ballot paper. 

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Britain’s political leaders made a frantic push for votes late Wednesday in the last hours of an election campaign expected to return a Labour government after 14 years of Conservative rule.

For an overall majority, a party has to secure at least 326 seats. 

Several surveys predict Labour will win more than the record 418 seats it secured when ex-leader Tony Blair ended 18 years of Conservative rule in 1997. 

The UK operates under a first-past-the-post electoral system where voters elect representatives in 650 constituencies. The party that wins the majority of seats, at least 326, will form the government, and its leader will become the prime minister. If no party secures a majority, the existing prime minister gets the first opportunity to form a coalition government. 

The main political parties include the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, Liberal Democrats led by Ed Davey, Reform UK led by Nigel Farage, Scottish National Party (SNP) led by John Swinney, and the Green Party co-led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.