Scripting a potential new chapter in the political history of the UK, 46.5 million Britons will vote for their new government on Thursday in an election that could prove disastrous for the ruling Conservative party and its leader Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The electorate will choose members of Parliament across 650 constituencies with 326 required for a majority. The results for each area, or constituency, will be declared through the night and into Friday morning.
The final opinion polls have predicted an unprecedented victory for the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, ending the incumbent Tories' 14-year-long rule. As per a new YouGov poll, 16 cabinet ministers would lose their seats, and even Sunak is reportedly worried about losing his seat in the Yorkshire constituency. The Tories' campaign will end anywhere between 53 and 150 seats with Labour projected to win a landslide.
The six-week campaign for the elections ended on Wednesday with both leaders wrapping up their poll pitches with contrasting messages. Sunak urged voters not to hand a "supermajority" to tax-raising Labour. Winding up his campaign in Hampshire, Sunak told Tory activists that the game isn't over. "I know we are at a rugby club, but if being a Southampton fan teaches you anything it is that the game isn’t over until the final whistle goes - and that there’s fight in the underdog."
The Tories also used the final hours to canvas their traditional voters, in a bid to narrow the gap of their widely expected defeat. "Thursday's vote is now all about forming a strong enough Opposition. One needs to read the writing on the wall: it's over, and we need to prepare for the reality and frustration of the Opposition," Suella Braverman, sacked as home secretary by Rishi Sunak, told 'The Telegraph'.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson also campaigned for the party at an event in London, warning the voters against giving the Starmer-led Labour Party a whopping victory. "When Rishi asked me to come and help, of course, I couldn't say no. We're all here because we love our country," Johnson told a cheering Tory crowd.
As for Starmer, the potential Prime Minister told supporters they were “on the final few yards towards the start of a historic day". "This is a great nation, with boundless potential. The British people deserve a government that matches their ambition. Today is the chance to begin rebuilding Britain with Labour," he added.
He has promised voters to "hit the ground running" if it wins Thursday’s election. Promising to push back the parliamentary recess to get his legislative programme underway, Starmer said he had told his shadow cabinet they would not be forgiven if did not show results immediately. He said he had told them: “I don’t want you having a phone call or a meeting the day after the election that you could have had six months before the election.”
Low turnout?
As many as 40,000 polling booths will open across the country at 7 am on Thursday as voters turn out to mark a cross next to their chosen candidate on a paper ballot. Since 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.
However, polling experts forecast a low turnout. Last elections, the turnout was 67 per cent in the last general election in December 2019 when Johnson won a solid majority on his get Brexit done message.