LONDON, July 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Voters are going to the polls across the UK in a general election that is expected to deliver the first Labour government in 14 years.
Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 7am on Thursday. Counting will begin immediately afterwards, with the results announced in the early hours of Friday morning.
Writing on X as the polls opened, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, said: “Change. Today, you can vote for it.” Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, posted a series of messages on the same site that urged voters to “stop the Labour supermajority”.
The Lib Dems tweeted: “This election is our chance to win the change our country desperately needs.” The SNP tweeted: “VoteSNP to deliver independence, rejoin the EU, scrap the two-child benefit cap, invest in the just transition, protect free tuition.”
The contest closes six weeks of campaigning by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition. It follows a period in which the UK has had three Conservative prime ministers in nearly five years.
It is the first election to take place in July since 1945, after Sunak took the country by surprise six weeks ago and called a summer poll.
Labour is seeking election on a platform of change, and has promised to create a new publicly owned energy company, nationalise the railways, cut net migration, recruit 6,500 teachers and create more than 100,000 new nursery places.
The Conservatives have promised to introduce compulsory national service for 18-year-olds, introduce an annual cap on migrant visas, recruit 8,000 police officers and cut a further 2p off national insurance with a view to abolishing it. — NNN-AGENCIES
