Polls have opened in the British General Elections with the ruling Conservative Party expected to suffer an historic and humiliating defeat.
After 14 years of Tory rule, Keir Starmer is expected to become only the fifth Labour leader in history to take the party from opposition to power.
The campaign’s final YouGov poll is projecting that Labour will win 212 seats - giving the party the biggest majority for any single party in the UK since universal suffrage in 1928.
More than a quarter of a century later, there are expected to be multiple ‘Portillo moments’ with hundreds of Tory MPs predicted to lose their jobs.
When Tony Blair swept to power in 1997, political pundits dubbed the moment Defence Secretary Michael Portillo lost his seat the election’s ‘Portillo moment’.
Mr Portillo had a safe seat and had been expected to contest the next Tory leader leadership contest.
Among the predicted losers this time are Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in Surrey, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk in Cheltenham and House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt in Portsmouth.
Most sensationally of all, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s seat in North Yorkshire is also thought to be under threat.
With large numbers of farmers and soldiers, the sprawling seat of Richmond and Northallerton should be safe territory for a Conservative candidate – but a Tory source told The Guardian yesterday that Mr Sunak is “genuinely fearful” he could become the first Prime Minister ever to lose their seat in an election.
Nigel Farage MP?
The return of Nigel Farage to politics completely upended the campaign and surging support for his rightwing Reform Party is expected to cost the Tories dozens of seats.
Mr Farage will stand as the Reform UK candidate in the seat of Clacton, which voted heavily to leave the European Union in 2016.
At the last election, 70% of people in the deprived seat on the coast of Essex voted Conservative, but today it is expected locals will choose Mr Farage to represent them in the House of Commons.
I will fight for Clacton, and I will fight for this country. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/SWtzZZiug1
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 3, 2024
In Northern Ireland, DUP leader Gavin Robinson is thought to be under threat from Alliance Justice Minister Naomi Long.
Mr Robinson had a majority of 1,819 at the last election and this time the Traditional Unionist Voice party is also standing in the constituency.
The party could also lose Lagan Valley to the Cross-Community party, as well as South Antrim to the UUP.
SNP under threat
The Scottish National Party is also expected to endure an uncomfortable night once polls close.
After a decade of dominating Scottish politics, the party’s standing in the opinion polls has plummeted.
Last year, former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested as part of a police probe into the party’s finances.
Ms Sturgeon denies wrongdoing but her husband, the party’s former CEO, has been charged with embezzlement.
Opinion polls predict the party could be entirely wiped by a rejuvenated Scottish Labour party in the urban central belt and might even lose seats to the Scottish Conservatives in more rural areas.
Main image: Rishi Sunak calling the general election announcement at Downing Street. Image: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
