Day of reckoning Little solace for Sunak as voters head for the polls

Under bright, blustery, skies across most of the UK, British voters went to the polls yesterday to elect their fourth prime minister in five years, with Keir Starmer's Labour party heavily tipped to win an overwhelming parliamentary majority and bring to an end 14 years of Conservative led government.

- Esther Addley

After weeks of campaigning following Rishi Sunak's surprise gamble on calling a July election, he and the other party leaders cast their votes while making final appeals to the electorate.

Sunak voted early with his wife, Akshata Murty, in his home constituency of Richmond and Northallerton, urging voters on X to "stop the Labour supermajority which would mean higher taxes for a generation".

Starmer, accompanied by his wife, Victoria, was met by a small group of supporters at a polling station in Kentish Town, London. On social media, he repeated Labour's campaign theme that it was "time for change".

The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, the Green party co-leader Carla Denyer, and party leaders in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, were also pictured at their constituencies. Davey, whose campaign has been characterised by goofy stunts including bungee jumps, water slides and zumba dancing, paid tribute to his wife: "Without my rock, Emily, I simply would not be on the ballot paper."

Jeremy Corbyn, running against Labour in his north London constituency after being expelled by the party he formerly led, posted: "I just voted for the independent candidate in Islington North. I hear he's alright."

The Reform leader, Nigel Farage, posted a Tik Tok video of himself buying a drink in a Clacton pub.

With polling throughout the campaign consistently having shown the Conservatives well behind Labour, final predictions offered little last-minute consolation for Sunak's party.