Labour set for crushing election win, exit poll predicts, as polls close in Britain
London: Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is poised to be swept to power in Britain in the most compelling fashion, crushing the 14-year-old Conservative government to claim one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in modern history.
A fierce voter backlash across the UK will reduce the number of Tory MPs to near-record lows, with millions seeking fresh leadership after a tumultuous period that included Britain’s departure from the European Union, political infighting, and scandal that saw four prime ministers in five years, the pandemic, war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis.
An exit poll coinciding with the end of voting at 10pm local time forecasts Labour will win 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, which would fall just short of Tony Blair’s 179 majority in 1997 — and giving Labour its first general election victory since 2005.
Starmer, 61, will become the 58th person to lead Britain after his landslide victory on Friday morning (UK time), when he is formally invited to form government by the King at Buckingham Palace. He will be just the seventh Labour prime minister in history and the fourth man to lead them from opposition into Downing Street.
