LONDON — The U.K.'s opposition Labour Party is on course to win a huge parliamentary majority in the country's general election, unseating the incumbent Conservatives after 14 years, according to exit polls released after voting closed.
Millions of people across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland voted for their local representatives in the 650-member House of Commons, the U.K.'s lower house of parliament.
Ballots will now be counted overnight, with constituencies declaring a winner as soon as votes are tallied. A nationwide result will likely be declared early Friday, with Keir Starmer, leader of center-left Labour, expected to become the country's next prime minster. Political surveys pointed to a large Labour victory.
Exit polls released as voting closed in the election put Labour on course for a landslide victory, with the incumbent Conservatives facing a bruising defeat. The poll, conducted by Ipsos UK for Sky News, the BBC and ITV News, points to Labour winning 410 seats out of 650, with the Conservatives on 131. Smaller parties look set for major gains, with the Liberal Democrats on 61 and Nigel Farage's Reform UK on 13.
While an overall Labour victory has been forecast by pollsters, many seats are considered too close to call — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt. There are around 120 of 650 seats where the margin of victory is expected to be lower than 5 percentage points, according to a from the Financial Times. Well-kn.
