Polling stations throughout the United Kingdom opened at 7am local time (8am in Italy) and will remain open until 10pm. Keir Starmer, who is expected to become the next prime minister, led the Labour Party into the election. The Conservatives under outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for early elections, but current estimates suggest that they may end up with even fewer seats than their historical minimum from over a century ago. If this holds true, they may have as few as 80 seats. In contrast, the Labour Party is predicted to win over 200 seats, a significant increase from their best result in 1997 when they had 179 seats and Tony Blair as prime minister.
Despite the anticipated defeat, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to remain in his position as leader of the Conservative Party according to previews from The Times. It will be interesting to see how the election results unfold and what implications they will have for the future of politics in the United Kingdom.
