According to the first projections based on exit polls, Theresa May's Conservative Party will win the most votes in the snap parliamentary elections in Britain, but will lose the majority.
According to reports, the Conservatives will get 314 of the 650 seats in parliament, while Jeremy Corbyn's Labor will win 266.
The AP writes that the expected loss of seats in parliament is a big blow for Theresa May, who called the election to increase her lead over other parties.
In addition, it is predicted that the Scottish National Party will take 34 seats in the parliament, which would thus also suffer a big blow, and Tim Ferron's Liberal Democratic Party 14.
SkyNews reports that the Liberal Democratic Party "will not enter into coalitions, agreements and pacts with anyone", citing a highly placed source within the party.
Elections crucial for Brexit
The polls opened today in Great Britain for the emergency parliamentary elections crucial to Brexit, which were held under heightened security measures after three extremist attacks in the country since the end of March.
From Cornwall in the south-west to Scotland via London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow, more than 47 million Britons are invited to vote today.
Prime Minister Theresa May called the election to strengthen legitimacy in negotiations with the European Union on Britain's exit from the EU. She hopes to increase her Conservative Party's slim majority in Parliament.
According to the latest polls, the advantage of the British Conservative Party over Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party before the snap parliamentary elections is significantly smaller than a month ago and varies between one and 12 percent, the BBC reports.
In addition to the Conservatives and Labour, the Green Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party and the Europhobic Great Britain Independence Party (UKIP) are hoping for seats in parliament.
From 07:00 a.m. to 22:00 p.m., the British people will choose between 3.303 candidates in 650 constituencies across the country, as many seats as there are in the House of Commons.
This means that 326 MPs are needed for an absolute majority, reports AFP.
British citizens of full age, then citizens of the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth countries, as well as British and Northern Irish citizens living abroad, who have been registered on the electoral roll in Britain for the last 15 years, have the right to vote.
The main parties are in the race - the centre-right Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, and the left-wing Labor Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn. They are followed by the center-left Liberal Democratic Party, then the populist and Eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party, and the left-leaning Green Party.
In the previous general election in 2015, seats in the parliament were also won by the Scottish National Party (on the left wing), the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Camry and four parties from Northern Ireland.
Polls suggest that the Conservatives are on the way to victory, but that Labor could also form a government with the support of smaller left-wing parties.
The British are most interested in how the new set in power will solve the issues of Brexit, terrorism, the National Health Service, immigration and the economy.
Ahead of the vote, opinion polls show, in fact, that the race could be significantly "tighter" than predicted when May called the election six weeks ago, but also suggest that her position as prime minister - remains secure.
While some of the latest polls have the ruling party ahead of Labor by just one percentage point, others predict that the Conservatives will not even win a majority at all, which would mean they would need the support of another party to govern.
However, the question is how much the results of the polls can be trusted, considering that in the previous elections held only two years ago, the forecasts of the public opinion research institute were quite wrong, which was also the case a year later, during the Brexit referendum.
Many see May as having two main advantages - the chance to provide "strong and stable leadership for Brexit" and the fact that her rival, Labor leader Jeremy Corby, is seen by many voters as weak and incompetent.
The conservative prime minister, who came to power without an election last year, after her predecessor David Cameron resigned, suddenly called elections in April three years ahead of schedule, after only one year at the head of the British government.
May, who had a "thin" Labor majority of just 17 MPs when the previous parliament was dissolved, called the election in a bid to strengthen her position on the brink of Brexit negotiations.
Otherwise, according to the British electoral system, the candidate with the largest number of votes in each electoral district becomes an MP. This system makes it difficult for smaller parties to increase their participation in parliament, but smaller parties whose support is concentrated in key electoral districts - such as the Scottish Nationalist Party - they could do well, according to AFP.
Although the focus is on party leaders, voters do not directly elect the prime minister, but only local representatives. The new convocation of the parliament is elected for a maximum of five years, which means that the next elections will have to be held by June 2022 at the latest.
The British vote will depend on who will negotiate Britain's exit from the EU in the next two years, as well as the strength of the government's mandate in parliament in the next five years.
In addition, Britain's new leader will have to deal with the aftermath of a terrorist attack in the heart of London's nightlife on Saturday night, the third Islamist attack in the country in less than three months.
The counting of votes will begin immediately after the polls close and by the morning of June 9 it will be clear who won.
Queen Elizabeth II will then, as soon as possible, ask the leader of the party that has the best chance of securing a majority in the Lower House of Parliament to become prime minister and form a new administration.
On June 13, the parliament will meet to elect its new president, and then the deputies will take the oath. On June 19, the Queen will officially declare the start of the new parliament, when she will read her government's program for the upcoming parliamentary year. In the week starting June 19, Brexit negotiations will begin.
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