Millions cast their votes on election day ahead of 10pm deadline as parties put forward final pitches to country
4 July 2024, 19:01 | Updated: 4 July 2024, 19:02
Millions of voters are continuing to have their say at polling booths across the country ahead of the General Election deadline at 10pm tonight.
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Polls opened at 7am and voters will have until 10pm to cast their ballots.
Following weeks of campaigning parties and candidates have put out their final pitches to the electorate in the hope of clinching last-minute votes.
This is the first General Election where voters will need to show photographic ID before they can receive their ballot paper following a law change in 2022.
An exit poll, published shortly after 10pm on Thursday, will provide the first indication of how the election has gone on a national level.
These take place at polling stations across the country, with tens of thousands of people asked to privately fill in a replica ballot as they leave, to get an indication of how they voted.
The first of the 650 seats are likely to declare their results from 11.30pm.
- Join LBC for Britain Decides our election night coverage, starting Thursday at 10pm. Our flagship program will be led by Andrew Marr and Shelagh Fogarty, with The News Agents' Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall providing expert analysis as results unfold.
- This comprehensive seven-hour show will be broadcast live on LBC, Global Player, TikTok, and YouTube, with a simulcast on LBC News. Stay tuned for real-time updates and insightful commentary throughout this pivotal night in British politics.
Earlier today Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer cast their ballots as they vie to win the General Election after weeks of campaigning.
Opinion polls suggest Labour is on course to secure a big majority in the House of Commons and form a new government. Mr Sunak, who has insisted the results are not a foregone conclusion despite dire poll ratings for his party, voted in his Richmond constituency.
He waved at reporters as he and his wife Akshata Murty arrived hand-in-hand at the Kirby Sigston Village Hall, as he hopes to be returned to Parliament as the MP for Richmond and Northallerton.
On X, the Prime Minister repeated his plea to voters to "stop the Labour supermajority".
Sir Keir was also joined by his wife, Victoria, as he visited a polling station in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency.
The Labour leader told his final rally in Redditch, Worcestershire, on Wednesday night to "imagine a Britain moving forward together with a Labour government".
He added: "That's what we are fighting for, let's continue that fight. If you want change, you have to vote for it."
As the bookies' favourite to be the next prime minister, Sir Keir said he was pleased with Labour's campaign and his party was "ready for what comes next".
A victory for Sir Keir would see Labour return to power for the first time in 14 years.
Other party leaders have also cast their votes, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and his wife Emily visiting a polling station in Surbiton.
"It's a beautiful day. I hope lots of people come out to vote," Sir Ed said as he left Surbiton Hill Methodist Church.
Scotland's First Minister John Swinney was joined by his son Matthew as he cast his ballot at Burrelton Village Hall, Perth and Kinross.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar cast his vote at Pollokshields Burgh Hall in Glasgow, accompanied by his wife Furheen and son Aliyan.
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, walked with supporters to a Bristol polling station to vote.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson shared a video of himself walking to a polling station and saying: "I'm going to cast my vote against the nightmare prospect of a left-wing government."
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn posted a photo of himself outside a polling station on social media with the caption: "Just voted for the independent candidate in Islington North."
Mr Corbyn is hoping to pull off a shock win in his London seat, which he won for Labour at every general election since 1983 until he was blocked from standing again for his old party.
An exit poll, published shortly after polls close at 10pm on Thursday, will provide the first indication of how the election has gone on a national level.
These take place at polling stations across the country, with tens of thousands of people asked to privately fill in a replica ballot as they leave, to get an indication of how they voted.
The first of the 650 seats are likely to declare their results from 11.30pm.
It is the first General Election where voters will need to show photographic ID before they can receive their ballot paper following a law change in 2022.
In his last-ditch appeal to voters after touring the country since calling the election, Mr Sunak said Thursday represented a "pivotal moment" for the country's future as he claimed Labour would "wield their unchecked power" to increase taxes should they secure a "supermajority".
In his final stump speech on Wednesday evening, Mr Sunak said: "This underdog will fight to the final whistle."
Ending a tour that was dominated by attention-grabbing stunts, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed said he had enjoyed the campaign, which saw him travel the entire length of the UK, cover 6,000 miles on the Lib Dem's Yellow Hammer One bus and bungee 160 feet.
In a Harpenden stump speech, he said: "Communities are angry. The water companies have been allowed to pour their filthy sewage into our rivers, lakes and onto our beaches. This has to change. The Conservatives have got to go."
North of the border, Scotland's First Minister Mr Swinney urged "every single SNP voter" to turn out on Thursday in what he said would be an "incredibly close" contest throughout the country.
An average of all polls completed during the seven days to July 3 puts Labour on 39 per cent, the party's lowest rating since the campaign began, 18 points ahead of the Conservatives on 21 per cent, followed by Reform on 16 per cent, the Lib Dems on 11 per cent and the Greens on 6 per cent.
The Tories are up slightly on the figures for the previous week while Labour are down, with the averages for the seven days to June 26 being Labour 41 per cent, Conservatives 20 per cent, Reform 16 per cent, Lib Dems 11 per cent and Greens 6 per cent.
On May 22, the day Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the General Election, the seven-day averages stood at Labour 45 per cent, Conservatives 23 per cent, Reform 11 per cent, Lib Dems 9 per cent and Greens 6 per cent.
Elsewhere, Queen guitarist Brian May, singer Myleene Klass and Blackadder star Tony Robinson were among the stars who have been casting their ballots and encouraging others to vote in the General Election.
May, 76, shared a video of the sign outside his local polling station and said "the sweet scent of liberation is in the air". He wrote on Instagram: "Happy Independence Day folks !!! Special salutations to all our American friends, celebrating the birth of your nation.
"This year, over here in the UK, we are having a kind of Independence Day too.
"The mood of the country seems to be that this is a long-awaited chance to express their disgust at the ineptitude, arrogance and corruption that we have been forced to witness over the last decade."
He added: "But for us the sweet scent of liberation is in the air. A New Hope of decency. By the early hours of tomorrow morning we will know for sure one way or the other."
Klass, who has campaigned for changes to miscarriage law and women's health care, shared a selfie outside her polling station and wrote: "I never thought it possible my voice could create change and yet time and time again I have been able to prove that it does, I just need to use it.
"I have walked the hallowed halls of parliament where women are still severely under represented and have stood in the very cupboard where suffragette Emily Wilding Davison hid in order to be physically present to place her vote the morning after by using the 'house of commons' as her address.
"Meanwhile, the old boys club rolls on. (My fav line, and there have been many, when asked 'which Asian I am', 'Oh we have a Filipino maid'.)
"I have campaigned (and WON) for changes to Women's health, Miscarriage care and the chance of/ equal education for children across the UK.
"As a state school kid myself, who now mentors at her old school helping to guide those who have lost their way, I know first hand how important access to education and facilities are.
"Parliament is on the whole, utterly oblivious to the needs of the real world.
"Thats why, you must use your vote today. To make change. For you and for your children."
Actor Tony Robinson shared a video of himself singing and dancing as he walked into his local polling station, holding his passport for photo ID.
He wrote: "Vote TODAY. Vote Change. Vote Labour."
Game Of Thrones star Charles Dance was photographed waiting in a queue to vote at his local polling station at Willingham Close Tenants and Residents Association Hall in north London, where Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria also cast their vote on Thursday morning.
TV star Piers Morgan also shared a picture from his own trip to vote, writing: "Vote cast."
Polls are open until 10pm.
