UK general election 2024 live: Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer seek PM race win
- People across the United Kingdom are casting ballots in a snap general election called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
- Voters to decide if the Conservative Party leader will remain in the top job or if Keir Starmer, of the main opposition Labour Party, will become prime minister.
Polling booths, in unlikely places
Voting has been taking place in about 40,000 polling stations across the UK.
The wide variety of sites include schools and church halls – as well as places like a laundromat and a crematorium.
Campaigners place yellow signs near Grenfell Tower polling station
British media outlets are reporting that activists have placed 72 yellow signs by the polling station near Grenfell Tower, representing each life lost in 2017 when a fire broke out at the residential high-rise in the West London borough of Kensington.
An official report blamed highly combustible cladding fixed to the exterior of the tower block as the “principal reason” the blaze spread. But despite a costly ongoing public inquiry, the government has been accused of failing to implement urgent safety changes to prevent a similar tragedy.
The Justice4Grenfell group said the fight for justice must go on and urged voters not to “slip up again on hollow promises from politicians”.
‘Disconnect’ between citizens and elected representatives over Gaza
Muhammad Meman, the founder of the Palitics platform, says Britain’s leading political forces have rejected calls by the public by and large to press for an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“This disconnect between ordinary citizens and their elected representatives has become starkly apparent. Regular protests in London, drawing diverse crowds of 250,000 to 750,000 people – including Jews, Christians, Muslims, and those of no faith – have highlighted this divide,” Meman said, adding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement “has gained unprecedented awareness”.
“British people are horrified as they witness the massacres in Gaza, with some questioning whether British arms and international support have enabled Israel’s actions.”
