Labor is headed for a clear victory in the British general election.
A polling station survey shows a crushing majority for the Social Democratic Party, which regains power after 14 years in opposition.
Labor gets 410 of the House of Commons’ 650 seats, and Keir Starmer becomes the new Prime Minister. The preliminary result means more than a doubling of parliamentary seats heading into the 2019 election.
“To everyone who campaigned for Labour, to everyone who voted for us and chose to trust us – thank you,” Starmer writes on X.
His deputy party leader Angela Rayner told the BBC that nothing is being charged in advance.
The numbers are encouraging, but polling stations are polling stations. Keir Starmer has done a fantastic job, she says, but can’t help but smile.
The Liberal Democrats are increasing
The Conservative Party gets 131 seats, according to British media its worst election results since the 19th century. According to the survey, Nigel Farage’s right-wing populist Reform Party gets 13 seats.
The Liberal Democrats are also heading towards a huge result, increasing by over 50 seats and gaining more members than the party has had in over 100 years, according to Sky News.
Whether you voted for us or not, we will work for you day and night and we will not let you down, says party leader Ed Davey.
Correct and boring
Labor leader Keir Starmer has been described as correct, dull and predictable, qualities not seen as negative for him or the party after recent years of political turmoil.
61-year-old Starmer has promised, among other things, to get the finances of both companies and workers in order, reduce waiting times in healthcare and get a handle on immigration – but not to continue on the current government’s beaten path of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The major polling station survey is carried out for the BBC, ITV and Sky News. The result is in line with the opinion polls of recent weeks.
A final result is not expected until early Friday morning.
Facts: Elections in Great Britain
The UK is divided into 650 constituencies. Each constituency elects a Member of Parliament to represent its population for up to five years. Most of the candidates represent a political party, but some are standing as independents.
Voters only vote for their local MP.
The political party that wins the most seats in the 650-seat lower house usually forms the government. The party leader then becomes prime minister.
Constituencies have been redrawn before the 2024 election to better reflect changes in the population.
A parliament can sit for a maximum of five years from the day it first convened. The current Parliament met for the first time on 17 December 2019 and would have been automatically dissolved on 17 December this year had it not been done earlier.
The British Parliament consists of two houses, the elected House of Commons and the unelected House of Lords, which have limited political power.
Fact: British House of Commons
The House of Commons of the British Parliament has 650 members, elected in single-member constituencies for five years at a time. According to the polling station survey, the seats are distributed as follows (with change in brackets):
Labour: 410 seats (+209)
Conservative Party (Tories): 131 (–241)
The Liberal Democrats: 61 (+53)
Reform Party: 13 (+13)
Scottish Independence Party (SNP): 10 (–38)
Plaid Cymru (Party of Wales): 4 (+2)
Environmentalist Green party: 2 (+1)
Others: 19
Sources: BBC, ITV and Sky News