On June 8, early parliamentary elections are held in the UK. The ruling Conservative Party is considered to be the favorite, but its positions are very unstable. It is not excluded that according to the results of the voting, none of the political forces will achieve the right to form a government.
Exactly at 07:00 local time (09:00 Moscow time) in the United Kingdom opened more than 40 thousand. Polling stations. The opportunity to vote granted 46.4 million Britons.
The sites will be open until 22:00 (midnight in Moscow). Immediately after this, the leading TV channels will announce the results of the exit polls, the vote count will be conducted overnight, and the final results should be known by the morning of Friday, June 9.
Following the voting results, a new composition of the House of Commons will be determined, which includes 650 deputies - one from each constituency. The party, which will receive more than half of the deputy seats, will be able to form a government.
A few months before the election, the Conservative Party was considered a clear favorite. In sociological surveys, she outstripped Labor by 17%. However, the unsuccessful decisions of Teresa May and the major terrorist attacks in London and Manchester led to a change in electoral moods.
According to the results of the latest sociological survey conducted by YouGov, 42% of respondents are ready to vote for the Conservatives, while 35% of respondents intend to support the Labor Party. The Kantar public opinion poll showed that the Tories could get 43% in the elections, and their main rivals - 38%.
There is a high probability that the Conservatives will get only 304 seats, and thus they will not be able to get 326 seats in the House of Commons needed to create a government. This situation is called a "suspended parliament" and will require negotiations on the formation of a coalition government or even new elections. In this case, government officials prepared an action plan.
Parliamentary elections are held in conditions of high level of terrorist threat. Therefore, the topic of security became one of the most important in the election campaign. Prime Minister Teresa May promised in the event of the victory of the conservatives to limit the rights of terror suspects, so that the special services had the opportunity to isolate in time those who are dangerous. "If our laws on human rights stand in our way, we will change the laws," said the head of the cabinet.
The main rival May, Labor leader Jeremy Corbin, intends to act differently. He accuses the Conservatives of having disorganized the security system in the country. "We must protect our freedom and rights. You can not fight the threats of democracy to the detriment of democracy itself. It is necessary to solve problems directly, and this means an increase in funding for police and security services. Theresa May removed from the streets 20 thousand. Policemen. We are going to immediately return 10 thousand. ", - said the leader of the opposition.
At the polling stations, in connection with recent terrorist attacks, increased security measures. At the same time, the British press notes that recent bombings did not scare people away from the elections. Quite the contrary, opinion polls conducted by two independent organizations on the eve of a student's day recorded a heightened interest of young people in parliamentary elections.
Registration of voters under the age of 25 to vote has broken all records. The rest of the population, apparently, also do not intend to stay at home.
On June 8, early Prime Minister Tereza May announced the holding of early parliamentary elections in late April. She explained that the UK needs certainty, stability and strong leadership, and therefore it is necessary to hold early elections. In addition, she said, this will allow to unite the British society before the negotiations on the exit of the country from the EU.