U.K. election live updates: Incumbent Sunak pitted against Starmer as Britain votes

As with any country, the U.K. certainly has its quirks when it comes to its election results, so we’ve put together a dictionary to help you make it through the election. (The first part, defining terms like Blue Wall, Red Wall and the House of Lords, is here.)

First past the post: The name given to the U.K.’s system of selecting Members of Parliament (MPs). Voters in each constituency elect one MP and the person with the most votes wins. With more than two parties likely running in a constituency, wins are often taken with a plurality rather than an absolute majority.

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Americans who remember former Prime Minister Tony Blair may think that Labour, the left-of-center party that he led, regularly wins power here. In fact, Blair was Britain’s first Labour prime minister since the 1970s — and the party hasn’t won a single general election since he stood down in 2007.

If Starmer ends that losing streak today, he will become just the fourth man since World War II to defeat the Conservatives. The others being: Clement Attlee in 1945, Harold Wilson in 1964 and 1974, and Blair between 1997 and 2005.

The two other Labour prime ministers in that period, James Callaghan and Gordon Brown, both inherited the role but never won elections. Since 2005 Labour has suffered four consecutive defeats, the most recent a historically chastening ballot-box beatdown for then-leader Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

If Starmer manages to end these 14 years of Conservative rule, he would echo Attlee, Wilson and Blair, all of whom ousted governments that had stood for a decade or more. In all, Labour has governed for just 30 years of its 120-year history. By contrast, the Conservatives’ dominance often fuels their claim to be the most successful force in British political history.

HONG KONG — For thousands of Hong Kongers who moved to Britain after Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in the Chinese territory, the election offers a chance to vote again. And in some seats, the fate of Conservative candidates could hang on their votes.

More than 120,000 people from the former British colony have moved to Britain under a bespoke immigration scheme the U.K. introduced in 2021 in response to a national security law imposed by Beijing.

“It is very meaningful for them to participate in democratic elections again,” Ian Ng, a spokesperson for the Vote for Hong Kong 2024 campaign, said in an interview. “Their turnout will not be low,” he added.

As with any country, the U.K. certainly has its quirks when it comes to its electoral process, so we’ve put together a dictionary to help you make it through the election.

Blue Wall: A group of constituencies that have historically voted for the Conservative Party, which usually uses the color blue. The constituencies are for the most part in the more affluent, southern part of England. Many are in the commuter belt outside London.

Red Wall: A group of constituencies that have historically voted for the Labour Party, which uses the color red. These often less-affluent, post-industrial constituencies are in England’s north and middle (Midlands). The Conservative Party won many Red Wall seats in the last election.

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Every election day, thousands of schools, churches and village halls across the United Kingdom are turned into polling stations. There are around 40,000 of these voting places in all, according to the Electoral Commission, but some are more unusual than others.

Voters in the historic city of Oxford are casting their ballots at the local laundromat, where parties will hope their spin has been effective.

In Salford, in the north of England, polling booths have been set up at Ordsall Hall, a mansion dating to the 13th century.

In Besthorpe, Norfolk, a farm has been commandeered for democratic purposes. As has a historic granary windmill in Thelnetham, Suffolk. And in Formby, near Liverpool, voters can reward their civic participation with a pint.

Perhaps the strangest of all, however, is the home of June Thomas, who regularly turns her small house into a polling station for the residents of Daventry, in Northamptonshire. She doesn’t take full advantage by casting her ballot there, however, instead voting by post.

“I don’t think I’ve ever voted in my house — even though it’s the polling station,” she told the BBC. “I can see why people might laugh.”

Some voters in the United Kingdom will end up disappointed today — and not necessarily because their party doesn’t win.

The Elections Act, a law introduced in 2022 during former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tenure, requires voters to provide photo identification such as a passport or a driver’s license when they go to cast their ballots.

At local elections in May, thousands of voters without the correct identification were turned away.

Among them, ironically, was Johnson himself, who was turned away when he failed to bring his ID to his polling station, but later returned to successfully cast his ballot.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats cast his ballot at a church hall in his constituency earlier today.

For the uninitiated, the centrist Liberal Democrat Party formed a coalition government with the Conservative Party between 2010 and 2015. It’s also the only major party to support the U.K. rejoining the European Union’s single market, which would roll back a significant element of Brexit.

Davey has taken an unusual tack in his campaigning, grabbing what attention he can by undertaking a series of unusual stunts such as paddle-boarding, riding a rollercoaster, attending a zumba class and plummeting toward the ground attached to a bungee chord while screaming, “vote Liberal Democrat.”

When either Sunak or Starmer takes to the stage to hail victory in the British election tomorrow, they will be joined at their moment of triumph by either a man with a trash can on his head or someone dressed as Elmo from Sesame Street.

Among the more than 4,500 candidates standing for election to Parliament’s 650 seats are those from fringe parties, single-issue campaigners and, in a peculiarly British tradition, those who are simply making fun of the whole thing.

The best-known figure in the latter category is Count Binface, “an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet sigma IX,” who will be challenging Sunak in his constituency in northern England.

Dressed in a silver outfit with matching cape and wearing a silver trash can as a helmet, Binface says that he wants to make the election “Bindependence Day” and that he is the “sane” choice for the electorate.

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Experts are expecting low voter turnout in today’s U.K. election as many across the country feel increasingly politically homeless — and hopeless about the future.

Just over 67% of people registered to vote in the U.K.’s last general election in 2019 cast their ballots, compared with 68.8% in 2017. John Curtice, one of Britain’s leading polling experts, said he wouldn’t be surprised if voter turnout is “on the low side” again.

“There’s clearly considerable disenchantment for the current government, but there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm for the alternative,” he said.