A major exit poll indicates that the Labour Party will defeat the Conservative Party in a landslide victory in the U.K.’s first national election in almost five years on Thursday.
According to the Associated Press, the poll was conducted during Election Day and released when polling places closed at 10 p.m. BST.
Polls taken prior to the election indicated dissatisfaction with the nation’s Conservative Party, which came to power in 2010 and won three more elections after that. U.K. citizens have faulted the center-right party, also known as the Tories, for a sluggish economy, cuts to public services and several scandals.
The exit poll indicates the Tories will win 131 seats in the House of Commons, their lowest number of seats and share of the vote since 1832.
The center-left Labour Party took an early lead in preelection polls on the message of change. They are on track to win 410 seats.
The new Reform Party spoke to the right wing of the Conservative Party by criticizing Tory leaders for failing to control immigration. They are projected to win 13 seats. Other parties running in the election were the Liberal Democrats with 61 projected seats, the Scottish National Party with 10 and the Green Party with two.
Voters turned out at over 40,000 polling places to elect members of the House of Commons, which has 650 members, one for each local constituency. The candidate with the highest number of votes wins the seat, even if they don’t get 50 percent of the vote.
The leader of the party with the majority in the House of Commons becomes prime minister of the nation. Labour Party leader Keir Starmer will be the next prime minister, defeating Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, according to the poll.
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Typically, the winner comes from one of the two major parties, the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, because it is difficult for smaller parties to win unless they have a large amount of support in their area.
The Conservative Party came into power at the end of a global financial crisis, which left Britain in debt. The economy was considered a key issue in this election as the nation struggles with high inflation and slow economic growth.
Other issues important to U.K. voters were immigration, health care, infrastructure and the environment.
Many people expected the election to take place in the fall, but current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided to hold a summer election six weeks ago in hopes positive economic news would win over voters.
The Parliament is elected for up to five years, but the prime minister can call an election whenever they believe it will be politically advantageous.
The last U.K. election was in 2019, when Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party won in a landslide. After Johnson resigned as prime minister, he was replaced by Liz Truss and Sunak after she resigned 44 days later.
This is a developing story and will be updated with further information.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
