UK general election 2024 live: Voting underway as Labour hopes to end 14 years of Conservative rule | AP News

By 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Here’s what to know:

• How does the process work?: Voters will elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, one for each constituency. The party that commands a majority, either alone or with another party’s support, forms the next government and its leader will become prime minister.
• Who are the leading candidates?: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is leading his Conservative Party. His main opponent is Keir Starmer, who has led Labour since April 2020.
• When will we see results?: Polls close at 10:00 p.m. BST (5 p.m. EST), and exit polls should be released shortly after.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is running for reelection as an independent, has voted in his north London district.

Corbyn posted a photo of himself on X outside a polling station with his right thumb up, saying: “Just voted for the independent candidate in Islington North. I heard he’s alright.”

Corbyn, a socialist who has won his seat for Labour at every general election since 1983, was suspended from the party and barred from running by Labour after his leadership faced antisemitism allegations.

He became deeply unpopular after Labour in 2019 suffered its worst defeat since 1935. Keir Starmer replaced Corbyn as party leader and he has rebuilt Labour and moved it closer to the center.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has cast his vote in a suburb in southwest London.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he said as he left the polling station in Surbiton. “I hope lots of people come out to vote.”

His left-of-center party could gain a larger share of seats. The party had 15 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons when Parliament was dissolved in May.

Davey’s Lib Dems have been trying to make inroads in areas of southern England where Conservatives are vulnerable.

Davey’s stunt-filled campaign has been a publicity bonanza. He has tumbled off a paddleboard into a lake, braved roller coaster rides and bungee jumped, urging voters to take “a leap of faith.”

British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is the favorite to win the UK’s July 4 election. His message to voters is that his government would bring much-needed change but who is the Labour leader? (AP video shot by: Kwiyeon Ha/Production by: Theodora Tongas)

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer voted Thursday in an election that is widely expected to return his party to power for the first time in 14 years and make him prime minister.

Starmer, who has warned his supporters not to take the election for granted despite polls and politicians predicting a landslide, voted in his London neighborhood.

Pollsters have given Labour a double-digit lead since before the campaign began six weeks ago.

Starmer has spent his time criss-crossing Britain and urging voters to vote for change.

He has pledged to revive a sluggish economy, invest in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and repair the broken National Health Service, which his center-left party founded in 1945.

Scottish National Party leader John Swinney voted as his party fights to hold off a wave of support from the rival Labour Party.

Swinney, who became the SNP’s third leader in just over a year in May, has tried to bring stability to a party in turmoil.

Scotland’s long-serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon abruptly stepped down last year during a campaign finance investigation that eventually led to criminal charges against her husband, who was the party’s chief executive.

Swinney joined the party at 15 years old, and previously led the party from 2000 to 2004.

Swinney has said that if his party wins a majority of seats in Scotland he will try to open Scottish independence negotiations with the London-based U.K. government. He wants to rejoin the European Union and the European single market.

Swinney walked to the polls in Burrelton Village Hall, Perthshire, with his 13-year-old son Matthew.

Downing Street’s resident cat remains at Number 10, waiting to welcome the winner of the British General Election. After more than a decade as ‘Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office’, Larry the cat’s tenure has endured longer than most recent British Prime Ministers.

The UK elections have a distinct vocabulary that draws on traditions of parliamentary democracy as well as modern political slogans and spin.

The Associated Press broke down some key words and phrases, such as:

• Coalition Goverment — A rarity in the United Kingdom, a coalition government is one in which two or more political parties divide up ministerial posts, compromise on policies and agree to govern in concert.
• Marginal Seat — Constituencies won by a small margin and thus more likely to switch hands in an election. The opposite is a safe seat.
• Tactical Voting — The practice of voters backing a party they wouldn’t usually support in order to defeat another candidate.

▶ Read the AP’s glossary of UK election terms.

The Conservatives have faced one challenge after another since they took power in 2010.

First, there was the fallout from the global financial crisis, which swelled Britain’s debt and caused the Tories to impose years of austerity to balance the budget. They then led Britain out of the European Union, battled one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in western Europe, and saw inflation soar after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Regardless of the circumstances, many voters blame the Conservatives for the litany of problems facing Britain, from sewage spills and unreliable train service to the cost-of-living crisis, crime and the influx of migrants crossing the English Channel on inflatable boats.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cast his ballot Thursday in a national election that will determine if he remains in office.

Sunak, who tried to bring stability to a Conservative Party in chaos when he was picked as leader in October 2022, spent the past six weeks trying to persuade voters across the U.K. to give his party another term after 14 years in power.

Pollsters and politicians widely expect the Labour Party to win for the first time since 2005.

Sunak’s campaign got off to a soggy start when he called the snap election in a downpour outside 10 Downing Street in May.

He had been expected to wait until the fall, when expected improvements in the economy would give him a better chance.

Sunak voted shortly after polls opened in his constituency in Yorkshire in northern England.

Sunak surprised pundits and most of his own lawmakers six weeks ago when he set the election for July 4, at least three months earlier than expected.

While most observers thought the vote would take place in the fall, Sunak gambled on a summer election, hoping that positive economic news would help him persuade voters that Conservative policies were beginning to work.

The decision was so startling that it landed the Tories in hot water. Allegations have emerged that party members and police officers assigned to protect government officials had placed wagers on a summer election, suggesting they had inside information and damaging Sunak’s ability to claim that his party is more trustworthy than Labour.

Commentators had been speculating about the timing of the election for months because the parliamentary term was scheduled to end in mid-December. While each parliament is elected for up to five years, the prime minister can call an election whenever it is most advantageous politically.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

The economy: Britain has struggled with high inflation and slow economic growth, which have combined to make most people feel poorer.

Immigration: Thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have crossed the English Channel in flimsy inflatable boats in recent years, triggering criticism that the government has lost control of Britain’s borders.

Health care: Britain’s National Health Service, which provides free health care to everyone, is plagued with long waiting lists for everything from dental care to cancer treatment.

The environment: Sunak has backtracked on a series of environmental commitments, pushing back the deadline for ending the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles and authorizing new oil drilling in the North Sea.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

People throughout the United Kingdom will elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, one for each local constituency. There are no primaries or run-offs, just a single round of voting today, July 4.

Britain uses a “first past the post” system of voting, which means that the candidate that finishes top in each constituency will be elected, even if they don’t get 50% of the vote. This has generally cemented the dominance of the two largest parties, Conservatives and Labour, because it is difficult for smaller parties to win seats unless they have concentrated support in particular areas.

The party that commands a majority in the Commons, either alone or with the support of another party, will form the next government and its leader will be prime minister.

That means the results will determine the political direction of the government, which has been led by the center-right Conservatives for the past 14 years. The center-left Labour Party is widely seen to be in the strongest position.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

British voters are picking a new government today, voting in a parliamentary election that is widely expected to bring the Labour Party to power against a gloomy backdrop of economic malaise, mounting distrust in institutions and a fraying social fabric.

A jaded electorate is delivering its verdict on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which has been in power since 2010.

The center-left Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has had a steady and significant lead in opinion polls for months, but its leaders have warned against taking the election result for granted, worried their supporters will stay home.