Global General

British voters go to polls for general election

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-06 15:11

LONDON - Millions of people in Britain went to polls on Thursday morning as up to 50,000 polling stations across the country opened for ballots.

Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) to 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Thursday, and preliminary results will be out in the early hours of Friday.

Over 44 million voters are registered to vote to elect 650 members of parliament from 650 constituencies. The new parliament will be summoned to meet on May 18, when the first business will be the election of the Speaker and the swearing-in of members.

YouGov survey said compared with voting intentions in 2005 the Conservatives had added 2 percent to their support, while Labor had lost eight points and the Lib Dems had gained five.

But the final opinion polls before the general Election showed that Britain is heading for a hung parliament although the Conservative party are still ahead during the three-horse race.