Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's party is expected to lose the July 4 election after 14 years of Conservative rule.
Vote counting is now underway in the UK's snap general election, with 650 seats up for grabs in the House of Commons (the lower house of the British parliament).
The candidates with the most votes in each constituency will be declared winners in the early hours of July 5. Most of the results should be announced by 7:00 a.m. local time.
Here's how all the parties are performing:
Previous election results
In 2019, Boris Johnson's Conservative Party secured a majority by taking seats from Labour in its traditional strongholds in the North and Midlands.
The Conservatives won 365 seats, a net change of +49, while Labour won 203 seats, a net change of -60 from the previous election. The SNP won 13 seats, bringing the total number of seats in parliament to 48. The Liberal Democrats won 11 seats, a net change of -2 from the last election. The Greens retained their one seat.
What are the main parties in the race?
There are several political parties in the United Kingdom, however, the two that have dominated the political arena in the 20th and 21st centuries are the Conservatives and Labour.
- The conservative partyalso known as the Conservatives, is a centre-right to right-wing party, currently led by Rishi Sunak, who replaced Liz Truss in October 2022.
- Labour It is a centre-left party, led by Keir Starmer. Its last term was between 1997 and 2010, under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
- Liberal Democratscentre-left, led by Ed Davey. In power from 2010 to 2015 in coalition with the Conservatives of David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, then leader of the Liberal Democrats.
- Vegetablesleft-wing ecopolitics, led by Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay.
- Reform of the United Kingdomright-wing party led by Nigel Farage.
- National Socialist PartyScottish National Party, centre-left party led by John Swinney.
- Cymru Checkeredcentre-left Welsh party, led by Rhun ap Iorwerth.
- DUPDemocratic Unionist Party, centre-right party in Northern Ireland, led by Gavin Robinson.
How does voting work in the UK?
Voters in 650 constituencies across the UK will elect members of Parliament to the lower house, the House of Commons, using the first-past-the-post system. To win each constituency and gain a seat in the House, candidates must receive more votes than any of their competitors.
A party needs to win at least 50 per cent of the seats (326) to secure a majority in the House of Commons and be asked by the monarch, King Charles III, to form a government. Members of the upper house of Parliament, the House of Lords, are appointed rather than elected.
If no party obtains a majority, a hung parliament occurs.
The current parliament of the United Kingdom
Before Parliament closed its doors on 30 May, the House of Commons was represented by 13 parties and 17 independents, including:
- The Conservatives – 344 seats (52.9 percent)
- Labour – 205 seats (31.5 percent)
- The Scottish National Party (SNP) – 43 seats (6.6 percent)
- The Liberal Democrats – 15 seats (2.3 percent)
The remaining 43 seats were held by nine other parties and independents.
