Less than three months after Prime Minister, Theresa May, called for a snap election, polling centers have opened across the United Kingdom. The election was called three years earlier than scheduled ahead of what is expected to be tough negotiations with the European Union over Brexit from the European bloc.
Voters across the UK will be electing their members of parliament for 650 constituencies from over 3,300 candidates running for elective positions. In the UK parliamentary system, the Prime Minister as the leader of the party with the majority of members in the House of Commons will form the government.
Only two people have a realistic chance of being the next Prime Minister: May, the incumbent, or Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Before the election, May’s Conservative party, had a majority of 12 seats, won in 2015 under former Party leader, David Cameron, who stepped down after losing the Brexit vote.
If she retains or bolsters that majority, she will stay on as Prime Minister (though losing seats could make her position as Conservative Party leader unstable). Failure by any party to win a majority will result in what is a called a hung parliament.
According to YouGov, British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservatives will win 302 seats in the election. Voters cast their ballots today in a snap election.
YouGov predicted that the Tories could lose up to 28 seats, and also their majority in parliament. In its last poll before the vote, the polling firm predicted that the Tories will receive 42 per cent of the vote, with Labour on 38 per cent. The lead is 1 percentage point greater than YouGov’s poll last week.
The pollster projected Labour will increase its number of seats in parliament to 269 from 229. While most polls have indicated the Conservatives’ lead is shrinking, the margin of that lead has varied greatly.
After a week dominated by security issues since the terror attack in London, the prime minister returned to her central message on Brexit – the reason she gave for calling Thursday’s election 50 days ago. Mrs May said that money which has until now been spent on EU projects could deliver “huge benefits” across the UK after its withdrawal, due in 2019.
But emphasising Labour’s plan to invest billions on public services, to be paid for by higher taxes on business and top earners, Mr Corbyn said the NHS could not afford “five more years of underfunding, understaffing and privatisation.” The Labour leader reshuffled his top team on the eve of the election after announcing shadow home secretary Diane Abbott would be taking a break because of ill health.
Ms Abbott pulled out of a number of media engagements on Tuesday and the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, said Lyn Brown, the shadow police minister and candidate for West Ham, had been asked to stand in for her indefinitely.
Lib Dem leader Tim Farron urged Labour supporters to “send a message” to Theresa May on issues such as Brexit and social care by supporting his party in seats where they are the Tories’ main challengers.
Endorsing tactical voting on campaign stops in Solihull, St Albans and Twickenham, he said: “This was undoubtedly an election called in the interests of the Conservative Party and it hasn’t quite turned out the way she expected because Theresa May’s made some very poor decisions, that have shown weakness and a level of heartlessness.”
Campaigning in Edinburgh, the Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said re-electing SNP MPs would ensure Scotland retained a “strong voice” in Westminster and deny the Conservatives the “crushing majority” they were expecting.
The Metropolitan Police force tightened security on voting day in the aftermath of the recent London attack. The Police said it will be implementing a “specialist and highly flexible operation” which it said could be deployed as needed. Polling stations, many located in schools and community centres, opened at 7:00am (0600 GMT) and will close at 10:00pm.
