Britons will vote today in a general election likely to return the Labour Party to power and end nearly a decade and a half of Conservative rule.
The country's first national vote since Boris Johnson won a landslide victory for the Tories in 2019 comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's surprise call for it to be held six months early.
It looks like his venture will prove unsuccessful for himself, as polls throughout the six-week campaign - and for the past two years - have pointed to a heavy defeat for his right-wing party.
This will almost certainly put Labour's 61-year-old leader, Keir Starmer, in Downing Street as leader of the largest party in parliament.
Labour's centre-left is expected to win the general election for the first time since 2005 with a historic result, with all polls in the run-up to the election predicting its biggest ever victory.
But Starmer is taking nothing for granted, urging voters not to stay at home. "Britain's future is on the ballot," he said. "But change will only happen if you vote for it."
Voting begins at 9:00 a.m. EDT at more than 40,000 polling stations across the country - from church halls, community centers and schools to more unusual places like pubs and even a ship.
At midnight, broadcasters will announce exit polls, which usually give an accurate assessment of the performance of the main parties.
Results from the UK's 650 constituencies will be revealed overnight, with the winning party expected to win 326 seats - the threshold for a parliamentary majority - as dawn breaks the following morning.
Polls suggest voters will punish the Tories after their 14-year rule.
"I understand that people are disappointed with our party," Rishi Sunak admitted on July 3. "But tomorrow's vote ... is a vote for the future," the prime minister was quoted as saying by the Guardian.
The Sun newspaper joined Labour - a key endorsement given that the tabloid has backed the winner of every election for several decades.
The paper followed the Financial Times, the Economist and the Sunday Times, as well as the traditionally left-wing Guardian and Daily Mirror, which also backed the party.
Meanwhile, three major polls showed Labour on the verge of a record victory, with the Tories on course for their worst result on record and the centrist Liberal Democrats reclaiming third place.
YouGov, Focaldata and More in Common have predicted that Labour will gain at least 430 seats, surpassing the 418-seat result won by Tony Blair in 1997.
The trio of agencies predict the Conservatives will be bumped to a record low of fewer than 127 seats.
The Liberal Democrats are on course to win dozens of seats - more than their current 15 - while Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform Bloc is on course to win just 2-3 seats.
YouGov and More in Common have predicted that the Brexit leader will finally become an MP again.
If the predictions are accurate, Sunak will visit head of state King Charles III to resign as prime minister.
Starmer will meet the monarch shortly afterwards to accept his invitation to lead the next government as prime minister.
The Labour leader will then head to Downing Street - the office and residence of Britain's leaders - where he is expected to make a speech before making ministerial appointments.
It will crown a remarkable political rise for the former human rights lawyer and attorney general, first elected as an MP in 2015.
He has promised a "decade of national renewal" but faces the daunting task of reviving creaking public services and a declining economy. | BGNES
