General election – live: Polls open as millions across UK to vote today

After six weeks, the general election campaign has ended, and party leaders have made their final pitches to voters across the country. It is now the turn of the electorate to deliver the verdict.

Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 7am this morning. When the polls close in 15 hours, counting will begin straight away. At this point, broadcasters will announce the results of the combined BBC, ITV and Sky News exit poll.

We will then have to wait a few more hours until we find out if the predicted results are confirmed. Over the last four elections the survey has forecasted the size of the eventual majority with almost perfect accuracy. 

At that moment, we will get the first proper preview of how the next Parliament could look like for at least the next four years.

Throughout the day we will be updating seat by seat until we have a clear picture of the full results. 

With the polls suggesting a landslide majority for Labour, there could be not many seats left for the Tories.

If the forecast is to be believed, Jeremy Hunt could be one of many Cabinet ministers at risk of being unseated.

The chancellor, who is fighting to retain the affluent Godalming constituency, could be heading to the infamous “Portillo moment”, when the then defence secretary was unseated at the 1997 election.

The 57-year-old, appointed in 2022 to stabilise the economy when former premier Liz Truss sparked a bond market rout, has focused as much on the local in his campaign.

Hunt, a senior minister for 11 of the last 14 years, including six as health secretary, told a public meeting in Godalming that the government had “not got everything right” but it could be trusted to make the difficult decisions when needed.

A successful businessman before he was elected, Mr Hunt has held a number of top ministerial positions, including health secretary, foreign secretary and chancellor.

He was beaten in the 2019 Tory leadership contest by Boris Johnson and later turned down a position in Mr Johnson’s government.

Candidare for Chingford & Woodford Green Faiza Shaheen has taken to social media to urge people to “start a new politics”.

In her last bid to supporters, she said: “Let’s show the world what we’ve got! Our community and people-powered campaign could win today. They know it and they are scared. The Tories are finally out, let’s start a new politics.”

Boris Johnson has urged his supporters to vote against the “nightmare” of a “left wing government”.

The former prime minister’s video on X, formerly Twitter, comes after he made a surprise appearance at Rishi Sunak’s campaign rally on Tuesday.

There are many different forms of ID that will be accepted at the polling station. It must be photographic ID – meaning a bank card is not valid, for instance.

Accepted forms of ID include:

Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state, or a Commonwealth countryA photo driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (including a provisional driving licence)A Blue BadgeOlder Person’s Bus PassDisabled Person’s Bus PassFreedom PassIdentity card bearing the Proof of Age Standards Scheme hologram (a PASS card)Biometric immigration documentMinistry of Defence Form 90 (Defence Identity Card)National identity card issued by an EEA stateAnonymous Elector’s Document

Following the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis so deep and prolonged that relatively well-off households found themselves in financial insecurity, voters have been eager to hear political parties’ plans for improving the quality of their lives, alongside a long-term strategic vision for their children’s future, Jonathan Bunn reports.

In the here and now, damagingly high inflation has returned to just above the Bank of England’s target of 2%, giving the Prime Minister the opportunity to say the economy is on the right track.

However, as Labour is keen to point out, the long period of unusually high inflation has long-term consequences, with lower rates simply adding less to high household costs.

The state of the nation’s finances is a key element that both the main parties always claim they can be trusted on, with the Conservative Party historically regarded by voters as the more reliable on tax and spending decisions.

But with most notably the turmoil caused by Liz Truss’s mini-budget in 2022, the party faces an uphill struggle to re-establish this reputation.

The latest figures show the UK’s overall national debt was £2.69 trillion in April, or 97.9% of gross domestic product, and 2.5 percentage points more than at the end of April 2023.