UK general election 2024 results live updates: Millions cast votes ahead of exit poll as Tories face prospect of defeat

For some, the defeat will be a surprise, for others they will have seen the writing on the wall during the campaign.

There will be several removal vans on the parliamentary estate in the coming days and weeks as the former MPs clear out their offices and make way for the new intake.

It is expected some new MPs will start arriving in Parliament just hours after the results are announced as they begin a new chapter in their lives.

They will eventually be assigned office space in Parliament by their party whips once the areas have been cleared out.

The taxpayer-funded Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) – which governs MPs’ expenses – supports those candidates who have lost their seat.

Winding-down payments are designed to help departing MPs close their office and manage the departure of staff.

John Rentoul’s guide to what to watch for, “Portillo moments” — and when best to take a power nap:

Voters are awaiting the exit poll which will indicate who has won the General Election as the final ballots are cast following weeks of campaigning by party leaders.

Polling stations across the UK opened at 7am, giving millions of voters the chance to decide if the Tory incumbent Rishi Sunak remains in the top job or the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer enters Downing Street.

Opinion polls suggest Labour is on course to secure a big majority in the House of Commons and form a new government.

The first indication of whether the pollsters were correct will come moments after the ballot closes at 10pm, when the exit poll is broadcast by the BBC, Sky and ITV.

But the campaign trail was shaken by the last-minute addition of Nigel Farage as the new leader of Reform UK, chasing the PM’s tail in shock polls which saw the party only marginally behind the Conservatives in the vote share.

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Claims have been made on social media encouraging voters to take their own pen to the polling station, as a pencil might allow votes to be tampered with.

Pencils are commonly used at polling stations instead of pens, because ink might run on to different sections of the ballot and obscure the voter’s choice.

But in its guidance for polling station staff, the Electoral Commission says people can vote with a pen or pencil.

It says pencils are typically used for practical reasons – pens may dry out or spill on to the voting booth.

Ink can also transfer on to different parts of the page when the ballot paper is folded, potentially leading to a vote being rejected if the voter appears to have picked multiple candidates.

The Electoral Commission adds that there are safeguards in place to prevent tampering with ballot papers.

Seals are attached to ballot boxes at the close of voting, and are removed only when the count begins.

Ballot papers from the most northerly ballot boxes in the UK — a remote island in the Shetlands — will be transported 180 miles to be counted.

Loganair said it was preparing to take boxes from the Isle of Unst to Orkney to be counted, on a journey consisting of two ferries, two cars and a plane.

Posters at Notre Dame primary school in Glasgow told voters to number their candidates in order of preference, using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, rather than marking a single “X” under the first-past-the-post system.

The BBC said it is not known whether anyone followed the advice.

The council confirmed the incorrect poster was taken down quickly.

They told the broadcaster that ballots would still be counted and that whoever has a “1” next to their name on the ballot paper will receive the vote.