Change of power expected

Great Britain votes, it will be close for Sunak

Britain's Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves the polling station with his wife Akshata Murty.(Bild: AP)

The UK is electing a new parliament, polling stations have been open across the country since 8 a.m., and the first forecast is expected at 11 p.m. when the polls close. Experts are predicting a change of power, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives polling around 20 percentage points behind the Labour Party, whose leader Keir Starmer is likely to move into Downing Street.

More than 46 million people are entitled to vote. All seats in the House of Commons are allocated by direct mandate. The candidate with the most votes in one of the 650 constituencies always wins. The absolute majority in the House of Commons is 326 seats. Projections predict that Labour will win far more than 400 seats. The party is therefore on course to achieve the largest majority in the House of Commons for around 190 years.

Britain's Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves the polling station with his wife Akshata Murty.(Bild: AP)

For the Tories, it's all about damage limitation
Experts emphasized that the Conservatives were only interested in damage limitation. In hourly posts, Sunak warned of a "super-majority" for Labour without far-reaching control. There is no such "super-majority" in the British parliamentary system. It makes no difference to legislation whether one party holds 20 or 200 seats more than the other forces combined. On X, Sunak also claimed that the Social Democrats were planning tax increases across the board.

Starmer promises "era of hope and opportunity"
Labor leader Starmer rejects the accusation. The 61-year-old announced a "new age of hope and opportunity". "This is a great nation with limitless potential," said Starmer on the eve of the election. "The British people deserve a government that matches their ambitions. Today we have the chance to work with Labour to start rebuilding Britain." There are many reasons for the Conservatives' decline. Above all, numerous scandals and affairs, especially under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have destroyed people's trust in the Tory party, which has been in power for 14 years.

The performance of the Liberal Democrats, who according to some calculations even have a chance of replacing the Conservatives as the largest opposition group, is also eagerly awaited. The right-wing populist Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage, who was once a key driver of Brexit, is likely to enter the House of Commons for the first time. Experts expect the former Brexit party to cost the Conservatives many votes on the right.

King Charles III gives order to form government
After the polls close and the forecast is made at 11 p.m., the individual constituencies will be counted until Friday morning. King Charles III then officially commissions the new Prime Minister to form a government.