Labour lead over Tories holds as voters prepare to head to polls – UK general election 2024 live news | General election 2024

Come with me to another country, far, far away, where things are a little bit different. In this fantastical land, young people can live and work in any country in Europe. You can swim in a river without catching Weil’s disease, or see your doctor.

Things aren’t perfect in this country, but 40,000 people rely on food banks instead of 3.1 million. People live half a year longer. Five-year-olds are taller.

Reader, you’ll never guess what. That country is Britain! Or it was until 2010, when a parade of five Conservative prime ministers, seven chancellors and eight home secretaries (two of whom were Suella Braverman) climbed behind the wheel of Britain’s temperamental but mostly reliable family hatchback, and drove it into a hedge.

What the hell just happened? If you’re feeling nostalgic, or just possibly a little angry, here is a recap of the lurches, plunges and nausea of 14 years on the Tory rollercoaster.

Results come in throughout the night after polls close at 10pm, with the very earliest expected by about 1am. Houghton and Sunderland South is historically one of the quickest, if not often the first, constituencies to declare. The national record is 10.43pm for the declaration for its predecessor seat, Sunderland South, set in 2001.

Houghton and Sunderland South competes every year – with youths running from polling to counting stations as fast as they can with boxes holding ballots – with Newcastle.

All seats seats should be declared by 7am, with perhaps a few exceptions.

The UK uses a voting system called “first past the post” (a horse racing term), which means that voters vote for a candidate in their constituency, rather than a party, and the candidate with the most votes wins and becomes a member of parliament.

The UK – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – is divided into 650 constituencies. The party with the most MPs then has the chance to form government, either because it wins the majority of seats in the parliament, or makes a deal with one or more other parties to do so. If the party with the most seats forms government, its leader becomes the prime minister.

This means that millions of votes for a party won’t necessarily translate to seats. For example, in 2015 more than 3.8 million people voted for Nigel Farage’s Ukip party, but this resulted in only one seat in parliament. If the UK had a proportional system like many other countries, the party would have won 82 seats.

A candidate who is least liked in a constituency can still win if the opposition is divided.

This election, a higher number of voters than usual may try to get past this system by voting tactically – casting their ballot not for their preferred candidate, but rather for the candidate most likely to unseat their least preferred candidate.

How do general elections work in the UK?

Jamie Grierson

The UK – that is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – is divided into 650 constituencies, a geographical electoral division or district.

Voters cast a ballot for the person they want to represent their constituency in the UK Houses of Parliament. Candidates run as members of political parties with the key parties including: the Labour party, the Conservative party, Liberal Democrats, Scottish National party, Green party, Reform UK, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist party. Candidates can also run as independents.

The candidate with the most votes in that constituency is elected as a member of parliament (MP).

The party with the most MPs then forms a government if it has a majority (at least 326 seats).

Wind and rain are no match for a roughly three in five eligible Britons who turn out to vote every five years. If anything, it makes them more determined.

Voter turnout is not generally affected by weather conditions, records suggest.

According to the Parliament website, despite the last general election in 2019 being the wettest since records began in 1931, turnout was actually higher (67.3%) than in 2001 (59.4%) and 2005 (61.4%) when polling day fell in June and May respectively.

The most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s public body for official data, show there are about 49 million people registered to vote in the UK.

Could those be winds of… change?

Winds of up to 40mph are set to blow accross the UK today, according to the Met Office.

Showers are also expected across west and northwest Scotland, northwest England and across Northern Ireland on Thursday, according to the forecaster.

Southeast England will experience the brightest, warmest weather with areas around London expected to reach temperatures of up to 22C.

Chillier weather is predicted further north with most of the day’s rainfall expected in northwest Scotland, the forecaster said.

Liam Eslick, meteorologist at the Met Office, told PA:

It’s going to be quite a windy day across much of the UK.

The strongest winds are going to be towards Northern Ireland, the western parts of Scotland and northern England – so we could see winds getting up to around 35, maybe even possibly 40mph, especially around the coasts of Scotland.

It’s going to be a windy day for most people but it is going to be bright for central and southern England as well as Wales.”

Today’s front pages

Jonathan Yerushalmy

Campaigning has ended and voters are set to decide who will lead the UK for the next five years, with the country’s newspapers covering the parties final pitches – while making a few suggestions of their own.

“Starmer hails ‘new age of hope’ as Britain votes in historic election”, reads the Guardian’s front page. The paper’s lead story notes that Rishi Sunak’s closest allies have already appeared “to concede defeat”, while the final opinion polls show Labour is on track for an unprecedented victory.

“On the last day of a fractious six-week campaign, the Guardian was told Sunak had confided to members of his inner circle that he was fearful of losing his own seat”, the paper reports.

With voters about to go to the polls, the Mirror unsurprisingly comes out with an endorsement for Keir Starmer. Against a stark, black background, its headline reads “Vote for change. Vote Labour”.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the Sun’s front page also come out in support for Labour, with “Time for a new manager”. Despite the waning impact of newspaper endorsements over recent years, there had been fevered speculation over who the Sun would back.

It’s the first time since 2005 that the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid has endorsed Labour and the editorial outlining its case is decidedly lukewarm, labelling Starmer an “ex-remainer” who wants “closer ties with Brussels”. It does however praise him for “dragging his party back to the centre ground of British politics”.

The Times – another Murdoch-owned paper – also offered cautious support for Starmer. The historic scale this election is underline in its headline: “Labour set for ‘biggest majority since 1832’”.

In an editorial headlined “Leap in the dark”, the paper states that “democracy requires change” and tellingly stopped short of urging people to vote Conservative. There is little enthusiasm in its message though, with the paper writing that “Sir Keir has left the British people with little clue as to his intentions in government”.

The Mail carries no such equivocations, with its front page dominated by a warning that votes for Reform will ensure a Labour victory. The headline reads “Vote Farage, get them …” above a picture of Starmer and his deputy, Angela Rayner.

The paper’s election day edition promises a tactical voting guide, that reads “If Labour win today, I warn you not to own a home, run a business, drive a car”; a clear allusion to former Labour leader Neil Kinnock’s celebrated speech, in the days before the 1983 election.

North of the border, the Mail’s Scottish edition tells voters to “Back Rishi and beat the SNP”, accompanied by a full page image of Nicola Sturgeon who resigned as first minister more than a year ago.

Scotland’s Daily Record also turns to recent political history, with a reference to Shepard Fairey’s iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama. Under an image of Keir Starmer shaded in red and blue, the paper urges voters to back Labour with the headline “Change”.

The front page of Scotland’s National reads as a direct rebuke to the Record’s headline, with “Change? What Change?” Outlining the areas in which the paper believes Starmer’s Labour will be identical to the Tories, the front page concludes by stating “in Westminster nothing ever changes”.

Across the entirety of its front page, the Express urges Britain to “Vote Tory”. Above the headline, the paper appears to take some time to convince itself of its position, acknowledging that frustration at the government is “understandable” and that it is the right of all voters to register there “protest”, however it concludes by saying it will carry the “torch of Conservatism until it is burning bright again.”

The i reports that “Labour’s lead narrows in final poll but Starmer still on course for landslide”. The paper notes that “most cabinet minister fear for their futures”.

The Financial Times says that Starmer is poised for a “200-plus majority”. “Tories braced for bleak night as polls put Labour on track for landslide win”, is the paper’s headline.

Telegraph readers would be forgiven for forgetting there was an election on, with only one small story on “postal vote chaos” indicating that it’s polling day.

The paper’s main headline reads “Homeowners face council tax raid under Labour”.

Finally, the Star’s front page simply carries a picture of a pair of oversized clown shoes and the headline “Toodle pip!”.

The paper’s front page story is just five lines long and reads “Remeber Bozo. Remember Partygate. Remember Lettuce Liz. Remember Rishi and D-Day. Remember to vote.”

Today is the day! With one hour to go, in caravans, castles, cricket clubs, and, who knows, a laundromat, a hairdresser, someone’s living room across the UK, staff at polling stations are on their way to unlock the doors, or inside making tea, or thumping a pile of ballot papers on a desk to get them straight, as they prepare to open in what is likely to be a particularly memorable election.

As Britons prepare fill their ballots in today, Labour is in the lead over the Conservatives. We will be bringing you results as they happen after polls close at 10pm BST.

Today is about the fun and excitement and power, even, of voting with me, Helen Sullivan, and my colleagues Martin Belam, Léonie Chao-Fong, Amy Sedghi and Andrew Sparrow. Our political reporters will be sending analysis and news live from around the country. It is, for journalists, a day that is about consuming many, many biscuits. We’ll be with you throughout the day, night and all of Friday as results come in.

Let’s begin.