Several big Conservative names are set to be toppled within the next few hours, including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt, who was widely viewed as a future leader.
Liz Truss, former Tory prime minister, is locked in a tight race with Labour in her Norfolk seat, although the forecast suggests Sunak himself should hold on to his Richmond constituency in Yorkshire.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, expelled from his own party after 41 years as an MP, could still pull off a shock win in Islington North, where he is running as an independent.
Ahead of casting his vote alongside his wife, Victoria, in his north London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras, Starmer acknowledged voters were upset about soaring costs, high interest rates, stagnant wages and overwhelmed public services.
“This is a great nation, with boundless potential. The British people deserve a government that matches their ambition,” he said. Today is the chance to begin the work of rebuilding Britain with Labour.
Courtiers have cleared two slots in the King’s diary on Friday – 11am and midday – with outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak to be invited to Buckingham Palace first.
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In this meeting, the departing leader is invited to bring their spouse and their children for a “departure audience”. While he will arrive at the palace in a ministerial car, he must make a private exit away from the cameras.
Starmer will arrive at the palace at midday, with his first official meeting with the King and his new prime minister known as the “kissing of hands”, although in practical terms it is more likely to feature a bow, if a man, or curtsy if a woman.
On arrival at the palace, the new prime minister will be greeted at the sovereign’s entrance by Sir Clive Alderton, the King’s private secretary, and Lieutenant Commander Will Thornton of the Fleet Air Arm, the King’s equerry.
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