General Election live: Tories on course for majority, says Ipsos Mori poll
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Voters head to the polls today for the third time in five years in what has been described as party leaders as the “most important General Election in a generation”.
Read more: Readers send in pictures of their dogs at polling stations
Read more: Your guide to the General Election 2019
Read more: What time will the UK exit poll come out?
19.00pm: Odds of no overall majority fall again
Bookmaker Paddy Power are saying that the odds of a hung parliament are rapidly increasing.
This morning, the odds of no overall majority were at 5/2. Now, they’ve fallen to 6/4.
A Conservative majority is still rated most likely at 8/15, whilst a Labour majority has fallen further to 22/1.
A Paddy Power spokesman said: “The chances of an overall majority for either the Reds or the Blues is on the drift. Buckle up, folks. It’s going to be a long night.”
6.45pm: Pound falls nearly one per cent against the dollar
Sterling has dropped 0.9 per cent against the dollar today, as investors continue to sell ahead of tonight’s election results.
The pound was down to $1.3081 this evening.
The dollar index shot up earlier today on the back of positive comments on the US-China trade talks by US President Donald Trump.
6.26pm: Rage Against The Machine back David Gauke
In one of the election’s stranger twists, Californian rap-rock legends (?) have endorsed former Conservative David Gauke, who is standing as an independent in South West Hertfordshire.
Nothing can surprise us anymore.
5.24pm: Labour activists use Tinder to mobilise young voters in marginal seats
Labour activists have been taking to Tinder today in a last-gasp attempt to mobilise voters in marginal Tory seats.
A campaign group has been targeting 18-35 year olds to join its “Tinder Army” and canvass on the dating app.
Nearly 700 profiles have signed up so far for the scheme so far, which allows a bot to take control of a user’s Tinder to send messages to individuals in such constituencies.
The group has already sent over 10,000 messages.
3.31pm: Ipsos Mori poll gives Tories their highest vote share since Thatcher
A new Ipsos Mori poll, released this afternoon, has predicted the Conservatives will get their largest primary vote since 1979.
The poll has the Conservatives on 44 per cent, Labour on 33 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 12 per cent, Greens on 3 per cent and the Brexit Party on 2 per cent.
The pollster said the result would be enough to give Boris Johnson an overall majority, however it came with a caveat.
Almost one in four voters surveyed by Ipsos Mori said they could still change their mind.
People who were likely to vote Tory were the most firm in their decision, with 83 per cent surveyed saying they would not change their vote.
Meanwhile, 74 per cent of Labour voters said they would definitely stick with the party.
“Labour has squeezed the Liberal Democrat vote share over the course of the campaign, but our final poll suggests this has not been enough to prevent the Conservatives scenting victory,” Ipsos Mori’s head of political research, Gideon Skinner, said.
“Overall, the Conservatives have managed to keep their vote from 2017 more successfully than Labour, while Boris Johnson retains his lead over Jeremy Corbyn as the most preferred PM.
“The country is not unanimous though, with clear splits by age as well as by other groups, and the number of people who said they might still change their mind is slightly higher than in 2017, with potential for more switching between Labour and the Liberal Democrats.”
You can see the poll in full – conducted for the Evening Standard – here.
2.48pm: Greatest election moments: BBC’s exit poll shocks the nation in 2017
Theresa May called the 2017 election expecting a thumping majority to clear the parliamentary path for her eventual Brexit deal.
With the Conservatives leading in the polls by more than 20 per cent, it was expected her party would win in a canter.
However, after a torrid campaign for her personally things started to look iffy.
People began to comment about how May seemed robotic and unlikeable on the campaign trail, while the Tories’ manifesto was pilloried for its so-called “dementia tax”.
Corbyn on the other hand had a popular Labour manifesto and performed well in media appearances.
When the clock struck 10 on election night it became clear the PM had made a huge mistake.
Predicting a hung parliament, David Dimbleby said: “The Prime Minister called this election, because she wanted as she put it ‘certainty and stability.
“This doesn’t seem, at this stage, to look like certainty and stability.”
2.06pm: Twitter abuse of election candidates soars
Figures from PoliMonitor show that 16.5 per cent of mentions or replies on Twitter to election candidates were abusive in the current campaign.
The study, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, analysed 139,564 tweets referencing the 2,503 candidates from today’s election.
PoliMonitor found Boris Johnson was the most targeted, following by Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson.
It compares to a 2017 study by the University of Sheffield, which found that only four per cent of Twitter mentions or replies were abusive.
It comes after a number of high-profile politicians, including former home secretary Amber Rudd, quit politics because of abuse.
1.43pm: Greatest election moments: John Prescott gets punchy in 2001
After being re-elected in 2001, New Labour icon Peter Mandelson said the night’s results showed Labour was now “the natural party of government”.
Tony Blair’s party clobbered the Tories that night, winning 413 seats to the Conservatives’ 166.
The landslide cemented Blair’s legacy as an election-winning force and arguably gave him enough political capital to pursue the Iraq War in 2003.
One of the most memorable events on the campaign trail was deputy leader, and former amateur boxer, John Prescott delivering a perfect left jab to a man who threw an egg at him.
1.24pm: Woofer update
At CityAM, London’s quality daily business paper, we are committed to providing the most thorough, professional election coverage.
That is why we are continuing to bring you wall-to-wall coverage of election pups in our rolling live blog.
Read more: Election Live blog: Dogs at polling stations across the UK
Here’s a little sneak preview of our favourite doggos from the day so far:
1.12pm: What are the bookmakers saying?
Bookmaker Paddy Power has shortened odds on a turnout between 70 and 74.99 per cent from 5/1 to 5/2, after long queues have been spotted at polling stations across the UK.
Paddy Power has also priced up odds for who is most likely to step down as party leader before the end of the week.
Surprisingly, Boris Johnson is at the shortest odds at 5/1, followed by Jeremy Corbyn at 8/1 and Jo Swinson at 16/1.
The Conservatives are at 1/25 to win the most seats with William Hill, while Labour at 10/1.
The Tories are 1/3 to win an overall majority.
1.07pm: Scottish bomb scare this morning
Scotland police have confirmed that a man has been arrested over a suspicious device found near a polling station in North Lankarshire, Scotland.
Police performed a controlled explosion, which was described as precautionary, on the device this morning at 1am in Motherwell.
A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the device.
11.59am: Elmo confronts Corbyn
We’ve had the first casualty of today’s election!
A woman dressed in an Elmo suit has been pinned to a wall by Labour security.
Jeremy Corbyn was approaching an Islington polling station today before his guards got out in front and blocked the human-sized Elmo from getting near the Labour leader.
Elmo struggles against the back of the guard as the Sesame Street character is pinned into the corner of the brick wall. Eventually as Corbyn passes, the woman takes off the helmet and places it on top of the member of security.
“Hello guys, can we stop the arguments please,” Corbyn said as he walked past.
11.49am: My left foot
Oh dear.
Diane Abbott has been spotted out canvassing this morning in Hackney wearing two left shoes.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP could be given the keys to the Home Office tomorrow if Labour are victorious today.
11.38am: The spinning wheel of democracy
A snap winter election meant that some regular venues were not available to act as polling stations, forcing communities to improvise.
While most polling stations are located at community venues such as schools and churches, one in Oxford is located inside a laundrette.
11.15am Why are we having this election?
Those not plugged into the 24-hour media cycle may be wondering why on earth they have been dragged back to a polling station once again.
To explain this, we must go back to the 2017 General Election.
Theresa May called a snap election to try and win a huge majority and make it easier to pass her eventual Brexit withdrawal bill.
She called the election at a time when the Tories had a 20+ point lead in the polls and it was expected Labour’s vote would collapse under the unpopular Jeremy Corbyn leadership.
However, May’s disastrous manifesto and campaign, combined with a popular Labour manifesto paper, saw Corbyn surge.
The Conservatives won without a majority, meaning they were forced to rely on the DUP to provide a confidence and supply arrangement so the government could get legislation through parliament.
However, the tight numbers meant it took little for May’s Brexit deal to get knocked back by Westminster.
Tory Brexiteers, and the DUP, voted against her deal several times to block its passage, which forced two Brexit deadline extensions.
This failure to pass her legislation led to her downfall, paving the way for Boris Johnson’s coronation over the summer.
Boris was able to cobble together a new Brexit deal with the EU that was accepted by almost the entire party, however it was doomed after the DUP would not support it.
This spurred the PM to call for an election, which was eventually agreed upon by the Labour Party.
SO.
Tl;dr, we’re having this election so the Tories can try to pass Boris’ Brexit deal.
Hence the campaign slogan “Get Brexit Done”.
10.12am #dogsatpollingstations
Now, for the most important part of the day!
Boris has already been seen at one polling station with his puppy Dilyn, joining hordes of voters bringing along their pooches to cast their ballot.
Read all about it on our live blog dedicated SOLELY to dogs at polling stations. Read more: Election live: Dogs at polling stations
10.02am Jo Swinson casts her vote in Glasgow
Squirrels of East Dunbartonshire beware! Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson has arrived to cast her ballot in the Glasgow swing seat.
Swinson has had a tough time of it this campaign, which has been characterised by fake rumours about her killing squirrels, being accosted by protesters dressed as bees and constant haranguing for the Liberal Democrats’ position on Brexit.
It all started out very positively for the Lib Dems as their poll numbers were comparable with Labour, however the longer the campaign went the more they sunk.
The party ran a presidential style campaign, which focussed heavily on Swinson in campaign literature and advertisements.
However, polling shows that the more the public saw of Swinson the more they didn’t like her.
Ouch!
9.51am Thumbs up! Jeremy Corbyn arrives in Islington North
The parade of leaders continues with Jeremy Corbyn arriving at a Holloway polling station in his Islington North constituency.
Corbyn has been an MP in Islington North since 1983 under the disastrous Labour leader Michael Foot.
Foot’s Labour achieved the worst ever post-war result for the party, winning just 209 seats.
However, the year was also a banner year for fresh blood entering the Labour Party.
Three of the last four Labour leaders – Corbyn, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – were elected to Westminster in 1983.
9.19am SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon casts her vote
Scotland’s queen of independence Nicola Sturgeon has arrived in Glasgow to cast her vote.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) is expected to clean up north of the border and is sitting around 46 per cent in the latest Scotland polling.
A formidable politician and public speaker, Sturgeon may well come into a position of great strength if the voters turn in a hung parliament.
Sturgeon has consistently performed strongly on the campaign trail and on the various leaders debates.
9.09am Queues across the country
Orderly queues are forming across the nation as voters try to get in nice and early.
As an Australian expat it gives me great joy to observe Britain’s two favourite past times rolled into one – queueing and moaning about the weather.
8.59am Polls tightening
The Conservatives have held a double-digit lead in most polls over Labour for almost the entire six-week campaign, however latest figures show the race is getting closer.
Read more: Tory lead over Labour shrinks in latest poll
A poll out this morning by Savanta and ComRes had the Tory lead down to just six points.
The pollsters said the result meant the election was “too close to call”.
Meanwhile, YouGov’s MRP poll, which correctly picked a hung parliament in 2017, predicted a 28-seat Tory majority on Tuesday.
The same poll two weeks ago had Johnson’s party winning by double that amount, confirming that the race indeed seems to be tightening.
8.50am Boris casts his vote
We have our first party leader sighting already as the PM is seen with his puppy Dilyn casting his vote.
The PM cast his vote for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency.
The prime minister’s partner Carrie Symonds has been seen on a near daily basis with the adopted Jack Russell terrier during the campaign.
Dilyn was adopted by the pair shortly after Boris was elected Tory leader in June.
8.40am Welcome to CityAM’s live coverage of 2019 Election day
The big day has finally arrived!
Read more: General Election: Moment of truth for Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn
After six weeks of shadow boxing, Britain’s political parties will finally settle the score in today’s General Election.
At stake? The heart and soul of the country.
A Jeremy Corbyn-Labour government will radically transform the UK by lurching the UK to a more socialist economy, replete with a host of nationalisation, wage setting and spending policies.
However, a Boris Johnson government will not necessarily mean retaining the status quo either.
A majority Conservative government will take Britain out of the EU before the end of January 2020, with Johnson’s so-called “oven ready” Brexit deal.
This would also mark significant change for the country and require the government to negotiate a free trade deal with the EU.