Live updates: UK heads to the polls in an election that could return ...

The UK will hold its first national election in almost five years on Thursday, with opinion polls suggesting that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party will be punished for failing to deliver on promises made during 14 years in power.

By  THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Since calling for the general election, Prime Minister Sunak has been at pains to repeat a key message on the campaign trail: The economy is turning a corner. Inflation is down. Things are looking up.

That’s not the reality for millions across the United Kingdom who are still feeling the squeeze from high food, energy and housing prices.

The persistent cost-of-living crisis is a top concern for voters in this parliamentary election.

Although inflation has returned to near-normal levels after skyrocketing in recent years, energy bills and items on store shelves still cost more than they did before the pandemic, when they started their steep climb. And while wages are starting to rise, mortgages and rents have soared along with interest rates, taking large chunks out of many household incomes.

▶ Read more about the UK’s economic state and the big issue on voters’ minds.

England’s team base at the European Championship soccer tournament in Germany is a “politics-free zone” on election day, defender John Stones says.

Stones said he had no clue about his teammates’ voting intentions.

“I couldn’t tell you about the other lads. I’m sure it it’ll be something that’ll get brought up tonight, later on, but I couldn’t tell you who they vote for. They keep it close to their chests,” he said.

That’s a stark contrast to France’s players, who have been vocal about a hard-fought parliamentary election campaign at home.

England is preparing for its Euro 2024 quarterfinal match against Switzerland on Saturday.

The River Thames is one of Britain’s many waterways contaminated with sewage. The number of untreated sewage discharges last year set a record with 464,000 spills that occurred for 3.6 million hours, double the length of the year before, according to the Environment Agency. (AP Video by Brian Melley)

Britain has become notorious as a place where a casual swim could lead to an extended visit to the toilet, if not the hospital, and a torrent of news on dirty water has spilled into the election.

While not a top campaign issue, it stinks of a larger problem: Britain’s aging infrastructure — from crumbling schools, hospitals and prisons to pothole-riddled streets.

Bad water is decades in the making, tied to the privatization of waterworks under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1989 and to fiscal austerity after the 2008 financial crisis that slashed budgets for watchdogs and others.

The British public discovered the extent of the mess during the COVID-19 pandemic as outdoor recreation such as canoeing and wild swimming took off — and reports increased of people getting sick after being in the water.

The sight and smell of feces, toilet paper and other waste in streams and on beaches led to an outcry, along with clean water campaigns by some London newspapers.

▶ Read more about how Britain’s sewage problem became an election issue.

Thousands of doctors in England staged their 11th walkout last week in a long-running dispute with the government over pay and working conditions, disrupting hospital services.

The five-day strike by junior doctors — those in the early years of their careers — shines a spotlight on the troubles besetting the chronically underfunded National Health Service, Britain’s state-run public health system, a topic that is a top concern for voters going to the polls.

▶ Read more about Britain’s doctor strike.

LONDON — Britain is going to the polls Thursday at a time when public dissatisfaction is running high over a host of issues.

From the high cost of living and a stagnating economy to a dysfunctional state health care system and crumbling infrastructure, some disillusioned voters have turned to the populist Reform Party.

Its divisive leader Nigel Farage, who championed Brexit, is drawing growing numbers of Conservative voters with his pledge to “take our country back.”

Opponents have long accused Farage of fanning racist attitudes toward migrants and condemned what they call his scapegoat rhetoric. They say that underfunding of schools, hospitals and housing under governments on the right and left is the problem, not migrants.

Polls show Farage has a comfortable lead in Clacton-on-Sea — a town on England’s southeast coast where many older, white voters used to staunchly support the governing Conservatives.

It’s unclear how much impact his party will have in capturing seats and Parliament, though it could be a spoiler by siphoning votes from Conservative candidates.

Farage, who has lost seven campaigns for Parliament, was the rare party leader who didn’t go to the polls Thursday. He voted in advance by mail.

All voters in the U.K. were required to bring identification with them Thursday for the first time in a general election.

A change in the law has required voters in England, Scotland and Wales to prove their identity since 2023 by showing a passport, drivers’ license and more than a dozen other acceptable forms of ID.

Voters in Northern Ireland have had to show ID since 1985, and photo ID since 2003.

The Elections Act introduced by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022 was enforced, ironically, earlier this year when Johnson tried to vote without ID in a local election in South Oxfordshire.

He was turned away, but came back later with his identification and cast his vote.

A man walks past a betting shop in London, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Britain’s general election is a big event for political gamblers. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

It’s not that you can’t wager on politics. But the odds on the main event this year have become so lopsided that a wager on which party will control Parliament is a bad bet.

In gambling-crazy Britain, politics is fair game for betting. The subject has received more attention than normal in this election because of a scandal revolving around what date the election would be set — one of the many gambling possibilities.

Tens of millions of pounds are expected to be wagered on this year’s election, but that will be dwarfed in the fall by the amount bet on the U.S. election. The presidential election in 2020 became the world’s biggest betting event on the Betfair Exchange, with 1.7 billion pounds wagered.

▶ Read more about political betting in the UK election.

Communities all over the United Kingdom such as Henley-on-Thames are locked in tight contests in which traditional party loyalties come second to more immediate concerns about the economy, crumbling infrastructure and the National Health Service.

Though it has traditionally been a Conservative Party stronghold, the area may change its stripes. The Tories have been beset by sluggish growth, declining public services and a series of scandals, making them easy targets for critics on the left and right.

“This is a blue (Conservative) town, always has been,’’ restaurant manager Sam Wilkinson said. “My generation won’t necessarily vote blue, not necessarily, but at the same time who else do you vote for? It’s really tricky.”

Residents steadily streamed to the polling station, including Patricia Mulcahy, who is retired.

“The younger generation are far more interested in change,’’ she said. “So, I think whatever happens in Henley, in the country, there will be a big shift.”

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who is running for reelection as an independent, has voted in his north London district.

Corbyn posted a photo of himself on X outside a polling station with his right thumb up, saying: “Just voted for the independent candidate in Islington North. I heard he’s alright.”

Corbyn, a socialist who has won his seat for Labour at every general election since 1983, was suspended from the party and barred from running by Labour after his leadership faced antisemitism allegations.

He became deeply unpopular after Labour in 2019 suffered its worst defeat since 1935. Keir Starmer replaced Corbyn as party leader and he has rebuilt Labour and moved it closer to the center.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has cast his vote in a suburb in southwest London.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he said as he left the polling station in Surbiton. “I hope lots of people come out to vote.”

His left-of-center party could gain a larger share of seats. The party had 15 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons when Parliament was dissolved in May.

Davey’s Lib Dems have been trying to make inroads in areas of southern England where Conservatives are vulnerable.

Davey’s stunt-filled campaign has been a publicity bonanza. He has tumbled off a paddleboard into a lake, braved roller coaster rides and bungee jumped, urging voters to take “a leap of faith.”

British Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is the favorite to win the UK’s July 4 election. His message to voters is that his government would bring much-needed change but who is the Labour leader? (AP video shot by: Kwiyeon Ha/Production by: Theodora Tongas)

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer voted Thursday in an election that is widely expected to return his party to power for the first time in 14 years and make him prime minister.

Starmer, who has warned his supporters not to take the election for granted despite polls and politicians predicting a landslide, voted in his London neighborhood.

Pollsters have given Labour a double-digit lead since before the campaign began six weeks ago.

Starmer has spent his time criss-crossing Britain and urging voters to vote for change.

He has pledged to revive a sluggish economy, invest in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and repair the broken National Health Service, which his center-left party founded in 1945.

FILE - Scottish First Minister and Scottish National Party leader John Swinney speaks during the party’s General Election manifesto launch at Patina in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 19, 2024. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP, File)

Scottish National Party leader John Swinney voted as his party fights to hold off a wave of support from the rival Labour Party.

Swinney, who became the SNP’s third leader in just over a year in May, has tried to bring stability to a party in turmoil.

Scotland’s long-serving First Minister Nicola Sturgeon abruptly stepped down last year during a campaign finance investigation that eventually led to criminal charges against her husband, who was the party’s chief executive.

Swinney joined the party at 15 years old, and previously led the party from 2000 to 2004.

Swinney has said that if his party wins a majority of seats in Scotland he will try to open Scottish independence negotiations with the London-based U.K. government. He wants to rejoin the European Union and the European single market.

Swinney walked to the polls in Burrelton Village Hall, Perthshire, with his 13-year-old son Matthew.

Downing Street’s resident cat remains at Number 10, waiting to welcome the winner of the British General Election. After more than a decade as ‘Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office’, Larry the cat’s tenure has endured longer than most recent British Prime Ministers.

The UK elections have a distinct vocabulary that draws on traditions of parliamentary democracy as well as modern political slogans and spin.

The Associated Press broke down some key words and phrases, such as:

▶ Read the AP’s glossary of UK election terms.

The Conservatives have faced one challenge after another since they took power in 2010.

First, there was the fallout from the global financial crisis, which swelled Britain’s debt and caused the Tories to impose years of austerity to balance the budget. They then led Britain out of the European Union, battled one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in western Europe, and saw inflation soar after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Regardless of the circumstances, many voters blame the Conservatives for the litany of problems facing Britain, from sewage spills and unreliable train service to the cost-of-living crisis, crime and the influx of migrants crossing the English Channel on inflatable boats.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cast his ballot Thursday in a national election that will determine if he remains in office.

Sunak, who tried to bring stability to a Conservative Party in chaos when he was picked as leader in October 2022, spent the past six weeks trying to persuade voters across the U.K. to give his party another term after 14 years in power.

Pollsters and politicians widely expect the Labour Party to win for the first time since 2005.

Sunak’s campaign got off to a soggy start when he called the snap election in a downpour outside 10 Downing Street in May.

He had been expected to wait until the fall, when expected improvements in the economy would give him a better chance.

Sunak voted shortly after polls opened in his constituency in Yorkshire in northern England.

Sunak surprised pundits and most of his own lawmakers six weeks ago when he set the election for July 4, at least three months earlier than expected.

While most observers thought the vote would take place in the fall, Sunak gambled on a summer election, hoping that positive economic news would help him persuade voters that Conservative policies were beginning to work.

The decision was so startling that it landed the Tories in hot water. Allegations have emerged that party members and police officers assigned to protect government officials had placed wagers on a summer election, suggesting they had inside information and damaging Sunak’s ability to claim that his party is more trustworthy than Labour.

Commentators had been speculating about the timing of the election for months because the parliamentary term was scheduled to end in mid-December. While each parliament is elected for up to five years, the prime minister can call an election whenever it is most advantageous politically.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

FILE - People walk to a polling station for the British general election in Westminster, London, Thursday, June 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

The economy: Britain has struggled with high inflation and slow economic growth, which have combined to make most people feel poorer.

Immigration: Thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have crossed the English Channel in flimsy inflatable boats in recent years, triggering criticism that the government has lost control of Britain’s borders.

Health care: Britain’s National Health Service, which provides free health care to everyone, is plagued with long waiting lists for everything from dental care to cancer treatment.

The environment: Sunak has backtracked on a series of environmental commitments, pushing back the deadline for ending the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger vehicles and authorizing new oil drilling in the North Sea.

▶ Read more about how the election works.

People throughout the United Kingdom will elect all 650 member