Polling Stations Have Opened For The UK General Election

46.9 million are registered to vote


Article heading image for Polling Stations Have Opened For The UK General Election

Image: Pexel

Polling stations have opened across the United Kingdom for the nation’s general election, which comes in the wake of a number of horrific terror-related incidents.

Polls opened at 07:00 BST (16:00) today at more than 40,000 voting centres across the country, with counting starting once voting ends at 22:00 BST (19:00), News.com.au reports.

The election will see some 46.9 million registered voters elect a total of 650 Westminter MPs.

Who Are The Major Parties And Leaders Involved?

The Tories (known officially as The Conservative Party) are currently in power and led by Prime Minister Theresa May, who replaced former leader David Cameron in 2016.

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The Labour Party are led by Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn. They're a left-leaning political party much like the Australian Labor Party.

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The Liberal Democrat. Led by Tim Farron, the party lost many seats at the last UK general election.

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The Green Party. The party is led by Caroline Lucas, and they're environmentally focused much like the Aussie Greens Party.

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The UK Independence Party (UKIP) is a right-wing populist party led by Paul Nuttal.

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The Scottish National Party (SNP)'s leader Nicola Sturgeon is not running for a seat but is the face of the party, and wanted the UK to remain in the EU.

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Plaid Cymru (The Party Of Wales) is led by Leanne Woodare.

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British Parliament

Given Australian operates on a "Westminster" system, the model is very similar in the UK, with British Parliament comprised of the House Of Lords (Upper House), and the democratically elected House Of Commons (Lower House).

The House of Commons holds 650 seats all up, and the Tories currently hold a 330-seat majority against Labour’s 229 seats.

The SNP has 54, the Liberal Democrats nine, Plaid Cymru hold three seats, and the Greens have just one.

Image: Pexel

Voting Conditions

Those eligible to cast an election vote will vote for their local member much like in Australia, but the main difference is the UK general election does not base declare its results from preferential voting - it's first in, best dressed.

Party leaders will compete to win the most amount of parliamentary seats - with Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn facing off for the keys to 10 Downing Street.

Latest Polling Results

Latest Polling Odds

Conservative: 1/10 (Favourite)

Labour: 13/2

Lib Dems: 500/1

Ukip: 1000/1

Greens: 1000/1

H/T: Coral

So Who Will Actually Win?

Theresa May and the Tories are looking in pretty good shape to win, but given the results of the Brexit vote in 2016, and US President Donald Trump's US Election win last November, we could fairly assume some surprise results.

8 June 2017




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