Reacting to the exit poll that showed Labour would win massive election majority, Keir Starmer expressed his gratitude to everyone who worked and voted for his party.

Taking to X, Starmer said: "To everyone who has campaigned for Labour in this election, to everyone who voted for us and put their trust in our changed Labour Party - thank you."

Keir Starmer will be Britain's next prime minister with his Labour Party set to win a massive majority in a parliamentary election, an exit poll on Thursday indicated, while Rishi Sunak's Conservatives are forecast to suffer historic losses.

The poll showed Labour would win 410 seats in the 650-seat parliament, ending 14 years of Conservative-led government.

Sunak's party were forecast to only take 131 seats, down from 346 when parliament was dissolved, as voters punish the Conservatives for a cost-of-living crisis and years of instability and in-fighting which has seen five different prime ministers since 2016.

In the last six national elections, only one exit poll has got the outcome wrong - in 2015 when the poll predicted a hung parliament when in fact the Conservatives won a majority. Official results will follow over the next few hours.

Sunak stunned Westminster and many in his own party by calling the election earlier than he needed to in May with the Conservatives trailing Labour by some 20 points in opinion polls.

Vote count will begin after polling process for general elections ends at 22:00 BST. However, voters who are in the queue at a polling station will be allowed to cast their ballots.

Polling began at 7 BST and will continue till 22 BST without any break.

For the first time in a general election, all voters in the UK are required to bring identification with them.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has dominated in Edinburgh, Scotland for 17 years with the largest number of Scottish MPs to Westminster since 2015.

However, Labour Party appears on track to replace SNP's dominance, reported Al Jazeera.

“Scotland remains important for Labour even if Labour does not [necessarily] need Scottish seats to form a UK government,” said James Mitchell, a professor at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Social and Political Science. “Winning back Scottish seats is important for Labour symbolically and to be able to claim to represent all parts of Britain.”

Former Labour leader and independent candidate running in Islington North told voters that “Palestine is on the ballot”.

“If you re-elect me as an Independent MP in Islington North, I promise to always stand up for the people of Gaza, and for the only path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine,” Corbyn said, reported Al Jazeera.

People from the Conservative Party have been attempting to spur on support by sending out emails saying turnout is much higher than expected.

“We’re getting reports from our teams on the ground. And the more reports we get, the more it looks like turnout is higher than expected,” according to messages sent out from the ‘CCHQ data team’ to those signed up on the party’s mailing list, reported The Guardian.

People have been voting in about 40,000 polling stations across the UK.

The different sites include schools and church halls as well as places like a laundromat and a crematorium, reported Al Jazeera.

Circumventing a media blackout rule that forces television and radio stations to stop their election coverage when polls open, the UK's political parties are on track to spend more than a million pounds on online adverts on Thursday, reported The Guardian.

At a time when public dissatisfaction is running high over a host of issues, Britain went to the polls on Thursday.

Some disillusioned voters have turned to the populist Reform Party due to the high cost of living, a stagnating economy, a dysfunctional state health care system and crumbling infrastructure, reported The Associated Press.

British media outlets are reporting that Activists have placed 72 yellow signs by the polling station near Grenfell Tower, reported British media outlets.

They put the signs representing each life lost in 2017 when a fire broke out at the residential high-rise in the West London borough of Kensington, as per Al Jazeera.