London: Polls are now open across the United Kingdom. Millions of citizens will finally be able to choose new MPs at 40,000 polling stations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The increase is down to hard-right Reform UK’s decision to end its 2019 promise not to stand against the Conservatives, and more Green party hopefuls.
In all, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tories are fielding candidates in 635 seats, with 631 for Keir Starmer’s Labour and 630 for the Liberal Democrats, led by Ed Davey.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has 609 with 629 for Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay’s Greens. The remainder are running for smaller parties or as independents.
Polls will remain open until 22:00 BST before counting begins as soon as they are closed. The first seat declarations are expected to be announced an hour after polls close.
Labour leader Keir Starmer shared a video message on X as polls open in the UK general election. He captioned the post: “Change. Today, you can vote for it.”
UK general election in numbers
Here are some of the key numbers as UK voters go to the polls Thursday in a general election predicted to see the ruling Conservatives dumped out of office after 14 years.
650 seats
The number of seats up for grabs across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. A party needs to secure 326 seats to have a majority in parliament.
4,515 candidates
The total number of candidates from 98 different political parties — a record. Of them, 459 are independents and 30% are women.
At least 29 joke candidates, including 22 running for the “Official Monster Raving Loony Party”.
The most common name among candidates is David, accounting for over 100 candidates, according to the Electoral Reform Society.
The youngest candidates are 18-year-olds Pedro Da Conceicao and Adam Wayne Joseph Gillman, with the oldest being 86-year-old John Hugh Morris.
46 million voters
There were over 46 million voters registered in the UK in December 2023, according to government data and the number is likely to have risen closer to the election, which was called on May 22.
For the first time this year, British citizens who have lived outside the country for more than 15 years will be eligible to vote as well.
40,000 polling stations
There are around 40,000 polling stations across the country, according to Democracy Club.
Any space can be used as a polling station as long as it meets certain criteria like being accessible for people with disabilities.
Several pubs are used, with this year´s election also promising polling at a ship, a beehive centre, a cricket field and a fossil museum among others.
Ballot boxes for the 650 constituencies will be taken from polling stations to counting centres and counts begin immediately after the polls close at 22:00 BST.
The first seats declare some time close to 23:00 and the vast majority are declared before 09:00 on Friday morning.
According to the UK broadcaster, an estimated 20 results will come in before 02:00.
Between 02:00 and 04:00 there will be 325 seats declared and between 04:00 and 06:00 another 275. The last few results come in later on Friday morning.
Although it is unclear when we it will be announced if any party has won the election, with enough MPs elected to form a majority in the House of Commons.
If a party wins in 326 constituencies — which is over half the number of seats in the Commons — it will have gained a majority.
It depends on how close the contest is, but it is likely to be sometime after 03:00 BST.
