Seats open in the four nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) for the elections for the renewal of the 650 seats of the House of Commons , the only elective branch of the Westminster Parliament.
Voting takes place according to the traditional system divided into as many single-member majority constituencies , in which only the first passes ('first past the post'). Around 50 million eligible Britons are called to the polls, out of a population of almost 68 million, between 7 local (8 in Italy) and 22 (23 in Italy).
The unanimous forecasts indicate a very large victory for the Labor opposition with a return of Labor to government after 14 years of fasting, under the moderate leadership of Sir Keir Starmer , a 61-year-old former crown prosecutor. And, at the same time, a historic collapse of the conservatives of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in power since 2010, against the backdrop of crises, scandals and lacerations marked by the repercussions of Brexit as well as by a revolving door of leaders.
The Tories, according to some estimates, risk being approached, if not surpassed, in terms of percentage consensus, by the populists of Reform UK of the revived Nigel Farage , who compete with them on the right; and at the level of seats by Ed Davey's centrist liberal democrats, whose votes are traditionally better distributed among the various constituencies.
(Unioneonline)
