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The results are in, and Keir Starmer is on track to be Britain’s next Prime Minister.
The nationwide exit poll, which is not 100% accurate but rarely far off, has forecast an enormous majority for the Labour Party over the Conservatives of 279 seats, a majority that has been predicted by virtually every poll for months.
According to the exit poll, Labour will win 410 seats, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s Conservatives will take 131 and the Liberal Democrats are in third on 61. There are 650 up for grabs. If the exit poll comes true, the win for Labour will be almost as large as Tony Blair’s momentous 1997 victory. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party is predicted to gain 13 seats, far exceeding expectations, making it the country’s fourth biggest party.
Starmer, Sunak and hundreds of candidates across the UK will now spend the next few hours anxiously observing just how accurate the exit poll turns out to be. Unlike pre-election day polls that track voter intention, this huge countrywide poll directly asks voters at polling stations who they have just voted for, and is therefore far more accurate.
The first constituencies are expected to announce winners in an hour or so and the final overall result will likely be unveiled in the early hours of the morning.
Starmer’s landslide victory, which, if realized, will bring an end to 14 years of Conservative rule, comes as little surprise, although Labour has spent the past six weeks warning voters that the polls are not a foregone conclusion. Starmer has led the Labour Party since the disastrous previous election defeat in 2019. He lacks charisma, and has angered those on the left of the party due to a wealth of U-turns on radical policies, but he is broadly viewed as a safe pair of hands who has turned the party from oblivion to today’s electoral force.
An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer will win 410 seats in Britain’s general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House in London. Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images.
Following the disastrous reigns of Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, Sunak’s 18-month stint in office has seen a steadying of the ship while rarely moving the dial. He ran a feisty campaign but it was littered with gaffes, including the rain-soaked election announcement and decision to leave the commemorative D-Day celebrations early, while has has had to face the re-emergence of Donald Trump’s pal Nigel Farage in the political sphere with his Reform UK party.
Reporting restrictions that have been in place for the past 15 hours while Brits have voted have now been lifted and audiences can tune in to the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky News or even GB News to see how things unfold through the night. Our primer on those preparations can be found here and we will keep things ticking on deadline.com.
Unless the exit poll has had a rare off day, it looks like the UK will have a new Prime Minister by the morning.
