Our new results live blog is now ready to take you through the night (if you’re in the UK – daylight readers around the world are also very welcome). Join us via the link below:
Summary
- Britain has been voting in the first December general election for almost 100 years, with Boris Johnson hoping the result will give the Conservatives the majority they did not have in the last parliament, allowing him to implement Brexit on 31 January. Despite the weather, the day has seen people turning out to vote in large numbers in some locations, with constituents in multiple seats posting pictures of lengthy queues outside polling stations, particularly in London, and waits of more than half an hour to vote. My colleague Esther Addley has the story here.
- At the EU summit in Brussels some leaders have been saying they hope one party will be able to form a majority government after the election. Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM), said:
The best thing for Ireland, for the UK and for Europe would be an end to the uncertainty, so whether that’s prime minister Johnson winning with a large majority, or remain parties winning a majority, we’ll work with whatever the outcome is.
What has been very hard to work with was a hung parliament that wasn’t able to come to a majority decision on anything. I just hope we’re not in that position tomorrow.
And Xavier Bettel, the prime minister of Luxembourg, said he would advise the next prime minister “to get a majority in the House of Commons and to be able to fulfil the agreements we decided on both sides.”
We are closing this blog now, but the coverage continues on our results blog. It’s here.
Here are some last-minute messages from the parties.
From Jeremy Corbyn
You have just over an hour to save our NHS.#VoteLabourToday
— Jeremy Corbyn | Vote today 🌹 (@jeremycorbyn) December 12, 2019
From Boris Johnson
Let’s not go back to the broken parliament we had before this election was called.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 12, 2019
Let’s move forward with a majority Conservative government that can get things done.
From Nicola Sturgeon
Just over an hour left to cast your vote. Vote @theSNP to get Tories out, escape Brexit and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands. This election really matters and every vote will count. #voteSNP #GE19 pic.twitter.com/8A0f0v7r6Q
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 12, 2019
From Jo Swinson
You have until 10pm to vote today, make sure you go out and vote for a #BrighterFuture, #VoteLibDems.#GE2019
— Jo Swinson (@joswinson) December 12, 2019
From the Brexit party
Vote for The Brexit Party today! pic.twitter.com/uegWbzCuLv
— The Brexit Party (@brexitparty_uk) December 12, 2019
Polling stations will close at 10pm
— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) December 12, 2019
I would encourage all those that have not yet voted to get out and exercise your democratic right
This day belongs to you. Seize it
Let’s send a clear message to Westminster that we reject Brexit
Vote for hope over fear - Vótáil Sinn Féin!
Updated
Good evening. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Haroon. This blog will be running until about 9pm, at which point we will launch a fresh one.
Here, fairly randomly, is some ‘how it’s going’ speculation from journalists.
From the Times’ Steven Swinford.
Hearing London is looking 'very difficult' for the Tories
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 12, 2019
Told Tory activists from all over capital - including some from marginal Chingford - were pulled into Chipping Barnet & Putney this afternoon
The phrase 'a majority of one is still a majority' is doing the rounds
To a certain extent the Tories have priced in losses in London - they're hoping the fall of the Red Wall will compensate for losses in Remain voting areas
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 12, 2019
Early signs are that they're doing better than expected in Leave-voting Labour marginals, particularly in North East
There is a World tonight in which we get an extraordinary political realignment - London turning red, swathes of the Red Wall turning blue - but still end up with a hung Parliament
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 12, 2019
Everything has changed, nothing has changed
From the Daily Mail’s John Stevens
Hearing Labour has given up hope in Bassetlaw, Don Valley and Stoke
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) December 12, 2019
London generally good for Labour aside from Dagenham and Eltham, I'm told
— John Stevens (@johnestevens) December 12, 2019
From the former Sun political journalist Steve Hawkes
Latest gossip. Parties thrown by turnout - it’s been huge. Suggestions Tories can gain 20 or so seats, incredibly incl Bolsover. But then it comes down to ‘net’ gains. Labour looking good in Putney, and better in places like Grimsby
— Steve Hawkes (@steve_hawkes) December 12, 2019
Updated
Jackson Carlaw, the interim Scottish Tory leader, has had a spat on Twitter with Nicola Sturgeon and her Brexit secretary, Mike Russell, after he tweeted that he had voted this morning in his East Renfrewshire constituency, 12 days after stating on Twitter he had sent in his postal vote.
An eagle-eyed voter flagged the apparent discrepancy, to Sturgeon’s amusement.
Oh dear 😂 https://t.co/rl0QbJ3Zz9
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 12, 2019
Russell, the Scottish government’s cabinet secretary for constitutional relations, was more pointed.
He tweeted: “Eh? Surely not as voting twice would be a criminal offence. Whereas tweeting something that isn’t true for electoral effect is just crass and dishonest …”
Carlaw, who holds the contiguous Scottish parliament seat of Eastwood, protested to both Sturgeon and Russell he had just made two proxy votes, both for Tory candidate Paul Masterton.
Even I thought @Feorlean was better than this insinuation.
— Jackson Carlaw MSP (@Jackson_Carlaw) December 12, 2019
I cast two Proxy Votes this morning on behalf of constituents.
Will he and @NicolaSturgeon be as quick to publicly apologise? https://t.co/WCwTnMEeEb
East Renfrewshire is an SNP target seat, and is often a barometer of Scotland’s shifting political mood. The Tories took it from the SNP in 2017 with a 4,712 majority, while the SNP had taken it from Labour’s then Scottish leader Jim Murphy in 2015 in its remarkable landslide. The previous Westminster seat of Eastwood had long been Tory-held until Murphy won it first in 1997.
Updated
Talking of Southampton Itchen, and its majority of just 31, here is a picture of a queue from a polling station there:
Great to see a queue outside the polling station for Southampton Itchen. Never seen a queue before! #GeneralElection19 pic.twitter.com/IkmTVkWueC
— Sarah VOTE Alewijnse (@ScienceSAL) December 12, 2019
And here’s a lovely, festive queue in Northamptonshire:
Election Day in #Brackley 100+ people in the queue, voting on first floor! Interesting pic.twitter.com/Y0CDwvwU7B
— Dave Gaster (@VisTran) December 12, 2019
It’s a similar story in Leeds:
Huge queues outside the polling station in Leeds. What does this mean?! Probably not much #GeneralElection2019 pic.twitter.com/VB4qFrtQ5T
— james pemble (@gfcpemble) December 12, 2019
Updated
The election count in Orkney and Shetland, the UK’s most northerly and most dispersed constituency, relied on a eight-seater aircraft propeller-driven aircraft to bring ballot boxes to the count on Friday morning.
The constituency, which has 34 inhabited islands including the isolated Foula and Fair Isle, is the only one that relies on aircraft to transport ballot papers to a count.
A Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander operated by Loganair was due to take off from Sumburgh on the southern tip of mainland Shetland at 1am on Friday after all the archipelago’s ballot boxes arrive, for a 45-minute flight to Kirkwall, the capital town of Orkney 90 miles south.
Onboard was Jan Riise, Shetland’s returning officer, who will keep guard over its 30 ballot boxes.
Updated
Problems have also been reported at Southampton University where the students’ union says at least 76 people have been turned away from the polling station despite being registered to vote.
A blogpost on the union’s website says:
We’ve received reports of multiple students being prevented from voting their local polling station due to an administrative error, meaning they’re not on their polling station list despite being registered to vote.
This morning, our VP education and democracy, Jo Lisney, experienced this first hand and was turned away from her polling station in Southampton Test. Jo says: “It was a shock this morning when I went to vote and was told I couldn’t. I had my polling card come through so I knew I could, but the people at the station showed me the list and it said ‘details deleted’. After this I called the Electoral Commission and they confirmed I can vote and told me to go back with my polling card but if it doesn’t work, call them again.”
Since then we’ve received at least 75 further reports of students experiencing the same issue.
One of the seats in the city – Southampton Itchen – was decided by just 31 votes in 2017, the Tories’ Royston Smith holding on to the seat by the skin of his teeth.
The union blogpost did add:
Despite these issues, we are thrilled to hear so many students are voting in the general election today.
Updated
In Liverpool, 48 voters were given ballot papers for the wrong constituency, the Liverpool Echo reports.
They were given papers for Wavertree, rather than Riverside, at a polling station that serves both constituencies.
Tony Reeves, Liverpool city council’s returning officer, told the Echo:
Due to a medical issue overnight, a key member of staff was unable to be present when it opened at 7am. The remaining staff took a decision to oversee both constituencies until a replacement arrived, to make sure voters were not turned away.
A short time later it was identified that 48 electors had accidentally been given a ballot paper for Wavertree, rather than Riverside and had voted in the wrong constituency.
He added that the votes wrongly cast would be declared null and void and that they were attempting to contact the voters in question to allow them to recast their vote.
Updated
They say never say never in politics, but Nigel Dodds says the DUP will never, ever support Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister. The party’s deputy leader slammed the door on any conceivable deal, tacit or otherwise, to put Labour’s leader into Downing Street.
“Jeremy Corbyn is someone whom we could never support as prime minister,” Dodds told the Guardian.
Lest there be any doubt about conceivably backing a Corbyn-led coalition, Dodds used the word “never” four times.
For most unionists Jeremy Corbyn is a complete no no. We will never support Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister. Jeremy Corbyn will not get our support.
Dodds cited the Labour leader’s positions on antisemitism, IRA terrorism, and a Scottish referendum.
Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister brings a lot of other things to the table which we could never accept … all those things would be anathema to the DUP and the people that we represent.
Dodds was speaking outside a polling station in Belfast North, where he faces a stiff challenge from Sinn Féin’s John Finucane.
By drawing a line down the Irish Sea, Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal betrays the DUP and arguably advances Sinn Féin’s goal of Irish unity, but Dodds still prefers Johnson to Corbyn.
He said the DUP could retain influence in Westminster and push for a new deal – as long as Johnson obtained just a slender majority.
It’s getting tighter and tighter and tighter. In 1992, John Major had a majority of 21 and he ended up depending on the unionist MPs in parliament. I think the DUP will be significant players in the next parliament.
Updated
More pictures of queues are emerging as people make their way home from work.
A queue 30 or so people deep at our on-campus polling place (which has been busy all day), located in the marginal Lab/Con constituency of Lincoln. You love to see it pic.twitter.com/TrxRO0MJ7q
— Mike Slaven (@mcslaven) December 12, 2019
I’ll be reporting from this polling station in islington as queues form outside despite the bad weather. Turnout across UKreported to be brisk to “unprecedented” in some stations. I’ll have more on #sixone @rtenews shortly #GE2019 #UKElection pic.twitter.com/ac8dogMsVz
— Dimitri O'Donnell (@dimitriodonnell) December 12, 2019
Long post work queues at a Salford Quays polling station pic.twitter.com/YyGShyvM4G
— George Mann (@sgfmann) December 12, 2019
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said at an EU summit in Brussels that he believes a trade deal can be negotiated with the UK by the end of 2020 if the country leaves the bloc next month. He asked:
Why not? In 11 months you can do a lot of things if you have the political will. What we should do is look forward and try to have the best relations after Brexit.
Updated
Sheffield newspaper the Star reports that Labour has complained after a blitz of anti-Jeremy Corbyn posters were plastered across the city overnight.
It says placards that read “Would you trust this man with your children?” featuring Corbyn’s picture have been placed outside schools and other places. The posters described him as “an extremist” and said he defended terrorists.
Nick Bradley, the chairman of the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency Labour party, told the Star hundreds of the “illegal and offensive” placards had gone up, adding:
This has been a campaign full of appalling lies with people using social media in particular to peddle offensive content.
Putting a poster of Jeremy Corbyn outside a school with the message ‘would you trust this man with your children’ is as offensive as it gets.
The Star said Labour had reported the matter to the police but South Yorkshire police told the Guardian it was a matter for the council.
Updated
The Conservatives have sent out an email to their supporters this afternoon with the subject: “Labour turnout is high.” It includes a red siren in the subject field.
Here is part of the text of the email, which is signed by Boris Johnson. Are the Tories genuinely worried, or is it just a ploy to ensure their supporters go out and vote?
Updated
This has been a strange election but it continues to get stranger. The Hollywood star Danny DeVito has been championing Labour and now a fan site for the Californian rap-metal veterans, Rage Against the Machine (RATM), has urged people to vote for the former Conservative cabinet member David Gauke.
RATM may have rapped “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me” but that hasn’t stopped their fans producing a tactical voting guide for their followers, which includes the band’s endorsement of Gauke.
From John Major to Rage Against The Machine. I do seem to have a broad coalition of support. https://t.co/JJTlbXrjgb
— David Gauke (@DavidGauke) December 12, 2019
Updated
Speaking at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said he hoped that the general election would not produce a hung parliament.
He told reporters:
The best thing for Ireland, for the UK and for Europe would be an end to the uncertainty, so whether that’s prime minister Johnson winning with a large majority, or remain parties winning a majority, we’ll work with whatever the outcome is.
What has been very hard to work with was a hung parliament that wasn’t able to come to a majority decision on anything. I just hope we’re not in that position tomorrow.
Varadkar warned, however, that Brexit would not be done with if the UK leaves on 31 January. He said:
Brexit doesn’t just end with the UK leaving the European Union. We move on to the next phase and that’s going to be really important.
The withdrawal agreement doesn’t solve the issue of trade, and the trading relationship between Britain and Ireland is essential for our agrifood sector, for our exporters and our small businesses. So it’s going to be really crucial for Ireland that we get a good deal on trade with the UK.
Updated
Eagle-eyed voters in Hackney North and Stoke Newington will spot on their ballot paper that the listed Lib Dem candidate is someone who has been dropped by the party.
Ben Mathis was suspended from the Lib Dems at the end of November for posting “clearly offensive” tweets.
A spokesperson for the Lib Dems told the Guardian that Mathis’s sacking came too close to the election date to take his name down or arrange an alternative candidate, as the Electoral Commission guidelines are very strict in this respect.
Updated
People with limited mobility have told of how they struggled to have their say in the election thanks to inaccessible voting stations, alleged postal vote registration failures and slippery floors.
In Chester-le-Street, where the polling station is inside a portable building, the council had not made reasonable adjustments to allow everyone to easily enter, according to Robert Berry, 68, who has issues with his hips. He said:
The step to get in is too high. You’ve really got to pull yourself up. And the floor was wet. The poor chap in front of me had fallen down to his knees. He had to sit for a while and recover.
Then, the returning officer said they had commented on this to Durham county council and nothing had been done. There’s a lino floor inside and it was just like an ice rink. Someone from the shop nearby came by with a big piece of cardboard which solved it.
Alex, from Widnes, Cheshire, witnessed - and helped - someone experiencing difficulty at a polling station in Halton.
It was a portable building in the local park situated on the grass beside a path. It was raised on stilts with a large puddle in front of the door that had to be stepped in in order to access the polling station if you had limited mobility. There was no ramp or means of access except by going up this step.
As I was leaving, a man with a mobility scooter arrived and had to be helped into the cabin whilst his scooter was left outside in the rain. The umbrella on his scooter in the photo is mine. Even if there had been ramp access, the space inside would not have been sufficient for him to move around. I also saw other elderly voters step in this puddle in order to enter and exit the polling station.
Meanwhile, in Colchester, a voter with connective tissue disease Ehlers-Danlos syndrome claimed she had applied in person twice to Electoral Commission workers for a postal vote but her requests were effectively ignored. She said:
As someone who is disabled and really struggles to get out at the best of times, it very nearly prevented me from voting. If it hadn’t been for local councillors taking disabled and older people to the polling stations, I wouldn’t have been able to vote at all. When I spoke to one of the councillors about it, they said that a lot of people in the area were saying the same thing.
Robyn Brook, in Castleford, West Yorkshire, said she went early to vote to avoid crowds but was forced to vote outside since there was not a ramp for people in wheelchairs at the portable building.
There was no ramp access, the stairs were huge, there’s no way even the wheelchair being tipped up I could’ve got in there. The staff were lovely, really apologetic. They had requested having a ramp put on. The area I live in has a lot of bungalows, its not just myself who would have needed it. I had to fill my form outside and pass it to the man working there. I was sat in the cold for about five minutes.
In East Dunbartonshire, where the Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, is coming under pressure from the SNP candidate, Amy Callaghan, activists from both parties are relieved that the weather has held. It’s been a gloomy day and the light was already fading by 3.30pm, but at least the forecast downpours have yet to happen.
Having a wee nose around East Dunbartonshire, where Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson is under some pressure from new SNP candidate Amy Callaghan, and came across this glorious bandstand looking out over the misty Campsie hills #ge2019 pic.twitter.com/eT475iNBIM
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) December 12, 2019
Even smaller village polling stations like Torrance report that business has been brisk, and bigger stations suggest turnout could match 2015, when it was above 80%.
As we reported last week, some local Lib Dems have been jittery about the amount of time Swinson has been away from the constituency since she became party leader, while Callaghan has had visits from Nicola Sturgeon and a lot of activist support.
Updated
Technically, there is no blanket ban on photos being taken inside polling stations (although the Electoral Commission recommends that it is best avoided and many stations explicitly prohibit photos as a result), but this brought a smile to my face.
We can't show you a photo of the #GeneralElection2019 #PollingStation queue at the University of Surrey in Guildford, because the queue is inside the polling station, and you can't take photos in there. There has been a queue all day.
— SurreyStudentsUnion (@SurreyUnion) December 12, 2019
Here is an artists impression instead. pic.twitter.com/psOfGI0Ooc
There are more details on the rules surrounding polling stations and much much more in this article by my colleague Martin Belam.
Updated
People who have not received their postal votes are still eligible to vote at their local polling station if they contact their local authority, although that is difficult for those voters who live overseas.
Lots of overseas voters have been contacting the Guardian to tell us about the issues they’re experiencing.
Dr Laura Sinclair, a medical physicist based in Dublin, got in touch after her voting forms for her home constituency in Hull failed to arrive.
When she phoned the council to chase up the problem, she says they gave her conflicting stories, in the first case that many of the postal votes had been lost, and in the second that she had failed to register in time. She also claims she was refused an emergency proxy vote.
Laura understands the council used a separate organisation to send off its postal ballots. She said:
I am not the only person who has lost their democratic right to vote in this general election. I am angry and upset that my basic right to vote has been taken away by a third-party company.
A Hull council spokesperson said:
The postal vote was sent the elector on Monday 2 December to the address in Ireland that she had written on her application for a postal vote. The letter had been returned marked as address incomplete, however the address was written in exactly in the form that she provided on her request for a postal vote.
British voter Stephanie Huber-Nagel, who lives in Germany, said her postal voting pack never arrived.
I applied for my postal vote this summer and I’ve been waiting for the past few weeks for my postal voting pack to arrive at my German address as my husband had received his at the end of November.
Unfortunately mine never made it on time and only reached me yesterday. The delay was due to the fact that the original envelope did not include my postcode despite my registration letter for postal vote clearly marking my postcode. It took the German postal services nearly two weeks to establish my full address and forward me my post.
I am really upset about this as due to a simple human/computer error my right to vote in one of the most important elections of my lifetime has been taken away from me.
One overseas voter, Cameron Ross, was so concerned about his postal vote not arriving in time that he flew to the UK from his home in Amsterdam. He is voting in a key marginal, Richmond Park, where Conservative Zac Goldsmith holds a 45-vote majority.
He said:
The outcome of this election is too important to let ride on the postal voting system. I arrived at St Lukes polling station (Richmond Park) at 8am this morning. I was told that I could not vote because the administrators at the station didn’t know how to find the list of registered overseas voters.
Following a phone call to the local electoral office, they managed to find the list of overseas voters on the back of their electoral roll document. I wonder if anyone else was turned away? I was also denied the chance to vote by proxy on behalf of my wife. They claimed they had not received those instructions in time.
I’m full of respect for the volunteers who oversee these polling stations, but they appeared underprepared and overwhelmed. In a seat with a wafer-thin majority of 45.
Updated
More on Conservative Facebook ads from Michael Barton and Caelainn Barr:
Although the official election campaigns have come to a standstill, the battle for voters continues online.
The Conservatives launched a constituency -pecific Facebook campaign yesterday, which appears to be primarily targeted to users in marginal seats. The campaign warns against tactical voting and focuses on 91 constituencies.
An ad encouraging voters in Broxtowe not to vote tactically had at least 6,000 views. The Conservatives have a majority of 863 in this constituency. Facebook users in Hastings and Rye appear to have been targeted with a similar ad which has had at least 2,000 views. Similarly that seat is held by the Conservatives by 346 votes.
The Conservative anti-tactical voting campaign has been running since 7 December.
Updated
In the EU’s eastern half, the election campaign has been viewed with bemusement, with the main focus on what will happen to the rights of the millions of EU nationals living in Britain after Brexit.
The rightwing governments in Hungary and Poland have appreciated the Tories staying quiet on rule of law issues and not adding to the chorus of EU complaints over backsliding in the country.
Aware that Poland and Hungary may be two of Britain’s closer friends in a post-Brexit EU, British diplomats have sought to cosy up to the governments rather than criticise them, and the ruling parties in both countries will be hoping for a Johnson win.
In the opinion section of Hungary’s pro-government Magyar Hírlap newspaper, author Daniel Deme writes that these are the most important British elections since the second world war, claiming that Boris Johnson wants to “preserve national sovereignty and identity” against Corbyn, whom the author calls a radical Marxist in favour of mass migration.
Poland’s Lewica leftwing coalition, which made it into parliament in recent elections, gave a ringing endorsement of Labour’s manifesto and called on all Poles eligible to vote to vote for Corbyn.
But the predominant reaction is confusion at the mess of British politics and what effect the election will have on Brexit. According to independent Hungarian outlet HVG, the only thing at stake in this election is “who will be the ringmaster in the long-running Brexit circus”.
Updated
AOC issues pro-Labour plea
US Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has issued a pro-Labour call for the UK public to vote.
Sharing an anti-Conservative video originally posted by Jeremy Corbyn, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted this:
This video is about the UK, but it might as well have been produced about the United States.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 12, 2019
The hoarding of wealth by the few is coming at the cost of peoples’ lives.
The only way we change is with a massive surge of *new* voters at the polls. UK, Vote!pic.twitter.com/N5JYaVGCBs
Updated
Wandsworth council, which covers the Labour marginal of Battersea, the Tory marginal of Putney, and the safe Labour seat of Tooting, has confirmed that “unprecedented numbers” of people were voting this morning.
We are grateful to our election staff who faced unprecedented numbers at polling stations this morning. They are working hard to clear queues would like to thank voters for their patience.
— Wandsworth Council (@wandbc) December 12, 2019
There have been few reports of queues since the pre-work rush to vote. This was Putney this morning.
I see from my Twitter it’s happening all over South London, and it’s happening in #Putney too!! Queues like I’ve never seen before. Get out there and vote your little hearts out ♥️ #GE2019 #GeneralElection2019 #Vote #HaveYourSay pic.twitter.com/SVpRCesTtE
— Soph K (@SophK05) December 12, 2019
This appears to be the same polling station at a church this afternoon.
The best #voting experience ever...when the charming #Putney polling station staff offered me their chocolate biscuits!! They tasted great - the biscuits. Chomping while casting a vote that's right for #Britain and our better non-Marxist future in #GeneralElection19 pic.twitter.com/JsmmCjFrnK
— Seán Brickell (@SeanBrickell) December 12, 2019
Updated
The Tories are sending targeted ads from the PM to voters in specific constituencies saying their seat is “one of the nine seats needed to Get Brexit Done” ... but they are sending them out to dozens of constituencies.
The adverts have been posted to voters in more than 40 constituencies, saying they are “one of the nine”. They include:
Dagenham and Rainham, Wrexham, Lincoln, East Devon, Sedgefield, Bolton North East, Batley & Spen, Birmingham Northfield, Workington, Stoke on Trent North, Bishop Auckland, Wakefield, Stockton South, Scunthorpe, Great Grimsby, Ashfield and Peterborough, West Bromwich East, Weaver Vale, Colne Valley, Darlington, Barrow and Furness, Crewe and Nantwich, Bolsover, Rother Valley, Penistone and Stocksbridge, Newport and West, Dudley North, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Haslingden & Hyndburn , Bury South, Alyn & Deeside, Bassetlaw, Coventry North West, Wolverhampton North East, Warrington South, Dewsbury, Lincoln, Vale of Clwyd, Worsley and Eccles South, Heywood and Middleton, Clwyd South, Wrexham, Leigh, Peterborough, Blackpool South.
A reader who works in online advertising contacted the Guardian because she thought it implied that there were only nine specific constituencies that were being referred to.
Updated
First-time voters have been in touch to tell us how they feel about casting their vote.
Lisa Bickell, 34, a dual national British-German citizen living in Durham, voted for the first time today.
I have been anxious to vote all week and fearful to be turned away due to my dual citizenship or any other electoral error. This election feels like the most important one I have ever taken part in. Being so excited, I woke up really early and decided to head to the booth at 7.20am to avoid any queue and get reassurance. There wasn’t anyone there and I quickly made my cross and left. Everyone was really nice and I came home feeling very happy, proud and British!
Max, who is from Canada and lives in London, sees his future in the UK.
I’m a citizen of both the Commonwealth and Europe but I barely made it! There was an issue with my registration and when I called on 5 December I was told I had not provided proof of my Canadian citizenship by the cut-off date, 4 December. I promptly submitted all documents in order to be registered for the next election. Despite this, I received my polling card last night and was able to vote today. I’m very humbled and touched that this was resolved so promptly and thank the UK for allowing me to help them shape the future of our world. I see my future in London, which has been the most welcoming city I’ve lived in and where my French accent has not prompted people to label me as a foreigner.
Alice Davies, 19, who is from London but studying and voting at the University of Leeds, is worried others like her might not be able to vote.
My dad is British and my mum is Irish and I was born in London and lived in England all my life. I was removed from the electoral register and was told that I was removed with ‘all the Europeans’. I’m UK-born with an Irish passport so eligible to vote in all elections. After repeatedly insisting that I was registered to vote the polling station staff member made a phone call and then told me I could be added back on and allowed to vote. I’ve heard there are millions of Irish passport holders in the UK. It’s worrying that if you weren’t absolutely confident in the electoral services or had dedicated staff members to help, your vote could be withheld.
Updated
Cardiff University has suffered an error with its online voting registration system, leaving up to 180 of its students ineligible to cast their votes, writes Will Neal.
The university says it is difficult to give an exact figure, but the issue has reportedly affected all students who registered to vote in November.
The university initially gave its students a deadline of the end of October to register via its own internal system. When the deadline passed, all applications that had been submitted were sent to the local council.
Due to an administrative oversight, the portal was then left online throughout November even though applications were no longer been passed on. As a result, a number of students who accessed the portal after the October deadline were not registered to vote.
The city council has said it is too late for them to be included on the list of voters for the area as the legal deadline for registration has passed.
Jackie Yip, president at Cardiff University student’s union, told the Guardian:
It is extremely alarming to hear about the number of students who may potentially be denied the right to vote due to clerical errors in the registration system. The Students’ Union will be calling for a significant investigation into these failures to ensure they are not repeated in the future.
It comes after Cardiff received up to 1,000 invalid applications ahead of today’s elections, due to problems with inputting addresses. Efforts were successfully made to contact those affected, but at least 200 people were not registered in time.
This is awful! @cardiffuni because of YOUR error, you have taken away students' rights to participate in basic democracy here and only just informed them of the fact the DAY BEFORE(?!?!) the general election?! #shameonyou #GeneralElection2019
— Leah Sarah Hibbs (@LeahSarahHibbs) December 12, 2019
A spokesperson for the university said: “We are deeply sorry and apologise, unreservedly. We have contacted all students we believe are affected. As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, we did everything possible to put it right.”
“We undertake a full review of our processes to ensure this can never happen again,” he added.
Updated
Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images
In Brussels, all the 28 EU heads of state and government, except Boris Johnson, are gathering for a two-day summit.
Johnson is being represented by Donald Tusk’s replacement as European council president, Charles Michel, a former prime minister of Belgium.
As Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, arrived at the Europa building, where leaders are meeting, he was asked what advice he would give the newly elected prime minister of the UK, whoever he may be.
“To get a majority in the House of Commons and to be able to fulfil the agreements we decided on both sides,” Bettel told reporters.
“To have a parliament in London that agrees on the future relationship and all these things very quickly.”
Bettel’s comments reflect the widely held view among the leaders that a Johnson majority and an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU on 31 January would now be the least worst outcome.
Charles Michel, the new president of the European council, has told reporters at a two-day EU leaders’ summit in Brussels that the EU will comment on the general election once the results are in.
He said: “I show always respect for the choices made by the voters and we will wait and see what will be the outcome of these elections.”
Should Boris Johnson secure a working majority, the EU27 are expected to issue a summit communique on Friday announcing their intention to move swiftly on to negotiations about the future relationship with the UK.
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The Conservatives in Southport, Merseyside, have been accused of attaching an election posters to a lamppost outside a polling station in the constituency.
Reader Dominic Porteous sent in this picture of the offending poster.
The south west London borough of Merton says it is taking “urgent action” to remove election posters near polling stations.
Our enforcement officers are taking urgent action to remove posters with political messages, which have been illegally displayed close to polling stations.
— Merton Council (@Merton_Council) December 12, 2019
Read more: https://t.co/kiJAPwg4lM pic.twitter.com/x2WD8Qzjeb
Candidates in this election received abuse or insulting remarks in 16.5% of mentions or replies about them on Twitter, a snapshot analysis has found.
PoliMonitor, supported by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust, analysed 139,564 tweets referencing the 2,503 candidates on the social networking site published on Monday 11 November 2019 referencing.. It found that 23,039 were abusive.
By contrast, analysis on abuse received by candidates in the 2017 general election by the University of Sheffield found that approximately 4% of tweets mentioning candidates were abusive, although as the methodology is different, the results are not directly comparable.
Other findings of the PoliMonitor research were:
- The three party leaders received the most abuse, with Boris Johnson the most targeted, followed by Jeremy Corbyn and then Jo Swinson.
- Most of the abuse was concentrated amongst 150 candidates who received 96% of the abuse. In all, 515 received abuse and 1,988 (79%) did not.
- Of the top 30 most abused candidates in the 24 hour period, only three were not incumbent MPs at the time the election was called: Richard Tice (Brexit party), George Galloway (Independent) and Liz Jarvis (Lib Dems).
- Female candidates received slightly more abusive tweets compared to male candidates, 17.3% vs 16.2%, with many directed towards women based on appearance and gender.
Concerns were raised before the election at the number of MPs - particularly women – standing down with many citing abuse, including cabinet minister Nicky Morgan and Heidi Allen, the former Conservative MP who defected to the Liberal Democrats via Change UK. The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott who was found by a previous study to be subject to nearly half the abusive tweets sent to female MP, was sixth in the PoliMonitor list of politicians receiving the most abuse, behind Michael Gove (Conservatives) and Caroline Lucas (Green party).
Sam Cunningham, CEO of PoliMonitor, said:
While most candidates received little or no abuse, the most prominent candidates received thousands of abusive messages, deterring politicians from having constructive conversations about policies which matter. For some, this abuse is deterring them from taking part in politics altogether.
More positively, the most extremely abusive terms were absent in the data analysed, suggesting social media companies and the public are getting better at stamping out the most abhorrent and unacceptable language.
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Photograph: Paul McErlane
Brexit has upended Northern Ireland politics but election day here has boiled down to a traditional, familiar contest between Orange and Green.
Of 18 constituencies the most closely watched and bitterly fought is North Belfast, where the DUP’s Nigel Dodds risks defenestration by Sinn Féin’s rising star John Finucane. Both men voted this morning amid grey rain that matches voters’ dour mood.
Remainers – a majority here – say Brexit has been foisted on them. Leavers, who tend to be unionist, call Boris Johnson’s deal a betrayal that will weaken Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.
Existential stakes, yet Northern Ireland’s MPs may be little more than spectators when the region’s fate is decided. A hung parliament is the only chance either side has of exerting influence at Westminster.
Sinn Féin and the DUP have thrown everything they have at North Belfast, a toxic battle of smears, dirty tricks, tribal appeals and Troubles-era rhetoric.
Defeat for Dodds, its deputy leader and Brexit architect, would hit DUP morale and confidence. But the party may return to Westminster with an additional MP courtesy of North Down, where it is favoured to win the seat vacated by by independent unionist Lady Sylvia Hermon.
Sinn Féin’s nightmare scenario is for Finucane to falter in North Belfast and for Elisha McCallion to lose her Derry seat to Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP.
The party of John Hume hopes to clinch a Lazarus-like revival by take an additional seat in South Belfast where Claire Hanna, thanks in part to Sinn Féin and other pro-remain parties standing aside, is tipped to oust the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengelly.
Naomi Long, leader of the non-aligned Alliance party, has an uphill battle against Gavin Robinson, the DUP’s incumbent in East Belfast.
Whatever the results, there is hope the DUP and Sinn Féin will in coming weeks negotiate their way back to Stormont, the seat of the assembly that collapsed in acrimony three years ago, zombifying Northern Ireland politics.
Some cautious optimism, too, in the Republic where a thinkthank report says there could be an economic bounce if Johnson wins a majority and pushes through his Brexit deal.
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Police in Nottingham helped an older voter to a polling station after responding to a report of an 80-year-old suffering from the cold and struggling to walk.
“It transpired he’d overexerted himself walking to his local station to cast his vote,” according to the police operation response team.
He was also got a cup of hot coffee to “warm him up”.
Call received from polling station staff reporting an 80yr old male struggling to walk. On arrival, it transpired he'd overexerted himself walking to his local station to cast his vote.
— ORT Nottingham (@ORTsafenottm) December 12, 2019
We decided to drive him home & made him a nice hot coffee to warm him up#safer #citizenfirst pic.twitter.com/KcpQ8oGhwu
There is no sign now of the pre-work polling queues reported earlier in the Tory marginal of Putney.
#Putney #Labour no queues now!! pic.twitter.com/dmbblEQSIL
— barefoot (@BearfootDenne) December 12, 2019
This image was taken just after dawn.
I see from my Twitter it’s happening all over South London, and it’s happening in #Putney too!! Queues like I’ve never seen before. Get out there and vote your little hearts out ♥️ #GE2019 #GeneralElection2019 #Vote #HaveYourSay pic.twitter.com/SVpRCesTtE
— Soph K (@SophK05) December 12, 2019
Jack Shenker writes for the Guardian that this election pitches the interests of rentiers against renters.
He says that the Conservatives are intent on preserving the status quo, while Labour believe things cannot stay as they are.
As things stand, the beneficiaries of that status quo are those who control, trade and live off existing assets and are thus liberated from dependence on the productive economy – including hedge funds, private equity firms and other purveyors of footloose, financialised capital, but also those who own their own homes outright or earn an income from pension funds, as well as actual landlords. The far bigger group that is losing out encompasses not only private tenants, but everyone reliant on wages and public spending for survival, not to mention all those who would prefer not to see the planet burn.
There are, of course, a great many older people in the first category who, seeking an insurance policy against the spiralling costs of social care, are understandably protective of their assets and wary of radical change. Labour’s challenge is to convince them that efforts to rebalance the economy will improve rather than diminish their lives in the years to come, and that curbing the domination of market logic – in housing, as well as many other areas of society – will bring immense benefits to their children, grandchildren and the wider community as well.
A long queue of students voting has been reported at one of the University of Exeter’s Cornish campus in the relatively marginal constituency Falmouth and Truro.
The Conservatives are defending a majority of 3,792 over Labour in the seat.
Great to see such a strong student turnout at @UniExeCornwall to vote for our next Falmouth and Truro MP in the #GeneralElection2019
— Cameron Goodhead (@CamGoodhead) December 12, 2019
The queues have been like this all morning.
(Good luck to @Jen4TruroAndFal) pic.twitter.com/csQFhIawx3
Meanwhile, turnout appears to continue to be high at the University of Kent in the Labour marginal of Canterbury.
Long queue @UniKent, every vote counts here, @UKLabour MP have small majority. #GeneralElection2019 pic.twitter.com/CAYtwNWsdz
— Nando Sigona (@nandosigona) December 12, 2019
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Lots of people have contacted the Guardian to tell us that they have had issues with postal votes.
Fraser Robinson and his wife are registered to vote in Ceredigion, Wales, and had applied for a postal ballot from the Netherlands. The documents never came through. He said:
We made sure we were registered and were confirmed but ballots never arrived. The council electoral services officer I spoke to confessed that she was ‘tired of hearing from people overseas that they hadn’t received ballots’ and that she heard the same complaints during the EU election.
The council has put the blame at the feet of Royal Mail, Royal Mail has blamed the council and the Electoral Commission has told me it is not their concern. Their casual approach to this problem has been really hard to stomach. If it was just my ballot lost in the post it would be one thing, but my wife’s as well as other complaints from Ceredigion postal voters makes me wonder if any of them were actually dispatched.
Maggie, who works on an administrative team in Poole, said that because her postal vote hadn’t arrived she’d had to take time off work to make sure she could vote in her constituency of Mid Dorset and North Poole. She said:
I got in touch with the electoral office in Dorchester in Dorset who told me that they would reissue the postal pack but if that doesn’t arrive this morning, I’m going to have to drive from where I live in Wimborne to Dorchester (23 miles) to collect the documentation that will allow me to vote in person at home.
I’ve had to take a half-day off work and obviously pay for the petrol – but I think it’s very important to vote in my constituency today. This is a particularly important election and it’s possible my vote could make a difference where I live.
James Aufenast lives in north London but was supposed to be submitting a proxy postal vote to Bath and North East Somerset on behalf of his sister Julia, who lives in Hong Kong. He said:
My sister is really concerned about what is happening in the UK right now despite having her own problems in Hong Kong. She was keen for me to vote for her by proxy (postal vote) and we organised well ahead of time. However, Bath and NE Somerset Council failed to send out the voting forms in time. In a marginal constituency where every vote counts, she feels she has been deprived of her democratic right at a crucial time.
I feel culpable too as it was up to me to organise and I have let her down. Obviously the responsibility lies with Bath, but I think the reason I am so upset is because it feels like a huge amount is riding on this election.
Aufenast said that when he contacted the local council to chase the issue up, they told him he was not the first person to have called in.
The council said in a response to his query:
We have received a lot of calls from electors that have not received poll cards and postal votes. It’s a combination of a national election and the Christmas post that have created a Royal Mail fiasco.
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Party activists in Haddington, a large market town in the Scottish National party target seat of East Lothian, report unusually high levels of voting this morning – something put down to voters eager to avoid going out after dark and very high levels of interest in this election.
Lorraine Glass, a veteran SNP election campaigner standing outside the Aubigny sports centre, said turnout had “really quite good”, despite the chilly December weather.
It’s busier for this time of day than it would normally be. I think people are much more engaged than they were in 2017. People have been really polite on the doorsteps. They say they’re fed up with Brexit but they’re wanting to talk to you about it.
Sandra Gaughan, a Labour campaigner, said people wanted to vote during daylight hours.
It gets dark at 4.30pm. It has been really, really constant.
I was here at 7.30am with my daughter before she went to work, and she had to queue. There were people queueing here at 7 o’clock; there was some woman who was quite bureaucratic saying: ‘Tell me which street you live on and I will tell you which booth to go to.’
East Lothian is being keenly contested by the SNP’s candidate, Kenny MacAskill, a veteran SNP figure most famous for freeing from prison the man accused of the Lockerbie bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, when he was Scottish justice secretary.
Labour’s Martin Whitfield, a pro-EU centrist, won the seat from the SNP by a relatively large majority of 3,083 votes (5.5%) in 2017. This contest is being seen as a significant test of Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity in this relatively affluent, pro-remain constituency, which normally has a high turnout at elections.
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Good afternoon, this is Haroon Siddique, taking over the blog for a bit to give Matthew a break. I’ll then be back to take you through from 3pm to 8pm.
Another place where queues have been reported is University of Lincoln. Lincoln is expected to be one of the tightest contests.
The Conservatives’ Karl McCartney is trying to win back the seat he lost by just 1,538 votes to Labour’s Karen Lee in 2017. McCartney, who ousted Labour in 2010, won by just 1,443 votes in 2015.
Great to see a queue outside of the University polling station today #YouthEngagement #WellDoneStudents #Lincoln pic.twitter.com/uZk9mixpeU
— ★ Tom ★ (@tomk27) December 12, 2019
A 48-year-old man has been arrested after a suspicious device was found near a polling station in North Lanarkshire (see earlier).
Police said the device was discovered on the ground floor of Glen Tower flats in Motherwell at around 1am on Thursday.
A cordon was placed around the building as residents were evacuated following the find.
Explosive ordnance disposal staff were called to the scene to examine the item before carrying out a controlled explosion despite the device being found to be “non-viable”.
People who were registered to vote at Glen Tower have been told to attend an alternative polling station at Knowetop primary achool on Knowetop Avenue in Motherwell.
A community room within the building was due to be used as a polling station. Ch Insp Mark Leonard said: “Police in Motherwell have arrested a 48-year-old man in connection with a suspicious device found on the ground floor of Glen Tower flats, Motherwell, around 1am on Thursday December 12 2019. Inquiries are ongoing.”
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Here’s a round up of some queuing news from PA Media.
Waits of more than half an hour were reported at various locations across England on Thursday morning.
Queuing appeared particularly widespread in London, with long lines reported in a number of constituencies.
Chris Schofield said more than 70 voters were waiting in the Bermondsey and Old Southwark constituency - some of whom gave up and left during his 20-minute wait, “presumably to go to work”.
“It’s about 20 times busier than it was in 2017, and for the locals and Euro elections,” the 27-year-old consultant said. “Atmosphere is very London: orderly queueing and no one is talking to each other!”
Several voters claimed they had never seen queues like it in years.
Asked why he thought there were so many queuing, Schofield said: “I think it’s the election of a lifetime for many of us.” Alixe Bovey reported queueing for 35 minutes in the Streatham constituency.
“In 20 years of voting in Streatham Hill, always at about this time of day, I have never encountered a queue of more than six or seven people,” she tweeted.
Waits were also reported in English cities such as Cambridge, where John Walsh tweeted to say it was the “first time ever” that he had to queue to exercise his democratic right.
Many members of the public said they were encouraged by the queues, suggesting it could mean a greater turnout than in the last general election. In the 2017 poll, there a turnout of 66.4%.
Voters unable to vote for whatever reason can return to their polling stations at any time before 10pm on Thursday evening.
The Electoral Commission advises polling stations “can get very busy, particularly towards the end of the day”, but says voters in a queue before 10pm will be entitled to apply for a ballot paper.
Voters in England, Scotland and Wales do not need to take anything with them to vote, while those in Northern Ireland must have photo ID.
Updated
In the Netherlands, which stands to lose more than most from a hard or no-deal Brexit, NRC Handelsblad lamented a campaign “poor on substance and rich in empty rhetoric” for a vote that “could change the course of Brexit, and the country”.
Hardly a single moment from the past few weeks lasted longer than the one-day news cycle, the paper said, while the debates provided no new insights beyond Johnson’s “Get Brexit done” and Corbyn’s “For the many, not the few”.
Both parties “promised more money and more investment, but avoided fundamental discussions about structural health, education and benefit reforms – or even Brexit”.
Johnson “could not explain how he would negotiate a trade deal in record time or what would happen if the talks dragged on”, the paper said, while Corbyn “was silent on Brexit, aware a good election result was only possible if both leftwing big-city remainers, working class Brexiteers in the middle and north vote Labour”.
Sweden’s Svenska Dagbladet described a country hopelessly split, and in multiple directions, leaving many facing “an impossible choice. How is a Conservative who wants to stay in the EU supposed to vote? Or a social democrat who believes Jeremy Corbyn is a leftwing extremist?”
In Denmark, Berlingske said Britain was voting in “one of the most important elections in decades”, whose outcome would “define the UK’s exit from EU or decide whether the country get a new referendum” and whose two protagonists “represent two radically different visions for Britain”.
“If the Conservative party wins an absolute majority, Britain can leave the EU by 31 January – but the UK must immediately start negotiating a future trade agreement,” it explained. “If Labour wins, there’ll be yet another referendum on Brexit. And if there’s no clear winner – it will be a big and serous mess.”
Updated
The student vote was a big factor in the surprise victory for Labour’s Rosie Duffield in Canterbury in 2017. Queues to vote have been reported again at the university.
A queue outside the @UniKentLive polling station. So good to see students coming out and using their vote in Canterbury! pic.twitter.com/a4HrHjqCTs
— emily (@emwindow) December 12, 2019
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Police Scotland have confirmed that they carried out a controlled explosion overnight after a suspicious device was found near a polling station in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.
The “non-viable device” was found on the ground floor of Glen Tower flats, Motherwell, at 1am this morning.
A community room in the same building was planned for use as a polling station today.
All residents registered there have now been directed to vote at Knowetop primary school instead. Ch Insp Mark Leonard said:
“A cordon was placed around the building and residents within the cordon were evacuated for safety reasons.
“The evacuation has now ended and police are working with North Lanarkshire council to return people to their homes.
“Inquiries are ongoing and we are keen to talk to anyone that may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area around 12 and 1am this morning.”
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There is not much interest in the British election in Russia, but Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the nationalist LDPR party and a loose ally of Vladimir Putin, delivered a full-throated endorsement for the Tories and Brexit.
Zhirinovsky, who is known for making outrageous statements, tweeted:
Mr. Prime Minister @BorisJohnson
— Владимир Жириновский (@Zhirinovskiy) December 12, 2019
I and the entire LDPR party sincerely wish you victory in the election today. With the support of people, you will quickly bring Britain out of the European Union!
Russia has largely welcomed the UK’s exit from the European Union as proof that the European project is coming apart at the seams and that western liberalism is failing, a thesis that Vladimir Putin has been repeating for years.
Russia has also brushed aside accusations that it leaked details of trade talks between the United States and the UK, with the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, quoting Boris Johnson’s assertion that there was “no evidence” of Russian interference in British politics. Johnson had said that before details of the trade talks were leaked.
Russian TV anchors took a fairly straight approach on election day, but highlighted the theatrical nature of the campaign, an element somewhat lacking in Russia’s own elections.
“The main agenda of the elections was of course Brexit, but the campaign often resembled a show, with PM Boris Johnson bringing milk to people at home, hiding from journalists’ questions in a refrigerator, and baking a pie, but mainly underlining that Brexit is a reality,” a broadcast on state-run Rossiya-24 summed up the campaign on Monday. The newscaster concluded the report by noting competing accusations of antisemitism in the Labour party and anti-Muslim remarks by Johnson.
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Voters have been in touch to share the signs they have spotted at their local polling stations.
Adam, 42, who runs a graphic design agency spotted the “choosing chimp” in Brockley, London.
Our local polling station is at Myatt Garden primary school. The teachers had put some thought into the placement of polling signage!”
Rob Priest, a history lecturer living in south London, took a photo of his local polling station:
A church, food bank, and polling station at the All Nations church on Poynders Road in Clapham. One thing I have been energised by this year is teaching students who are voting for the first time – almost all of them weren’t able to vote in the referendum and I get the sense they are taking it very seriously.
Charlie Hamilton loved the sign spotted by her colleague, Sam Picknell, at Plaistow polling station, West Sussex.
Updated
Top marks for this:
Long queues starting to form at the polling station in Uxbridge and Ruislip... pic.twitter.com/Zd5Q4TS7MP
— Rich Bev (@Rich_Bev) December 12, 2019
“Socialism or Brexit? this is the Hamlet-like dilemma of the vote in the UK,” writes Enrico Franceschini in the Italian daily La Repubblica.
Commenting on the third general election in four years, Franceschini compares the rhythm of politics in what was once a stable European democracy to that of Italy’s. He adds:
Today the tribes in which Great Britain is divided are forced to mingle to choose the lesser evil: Boris Johnson, if they want to avoid socialism; Jeremy Corbyn, if they want to avoid Brexit. Many, in both cases, will be holding their noses as they vote.
In Corriere della Sera, Beppe Severgnini writes about what a Labour or Conservative could mean for the UK. With Brexit dominating, should Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg (who Severgnini calls “the sons of Thatcher”) regain power, then they will be tempted to transform Britain into “a pirate ship off the coast of Europe”.
He adds:
It would be a serious mistake. It is no longer the times of pirate Sir Francis Drake: the European fortress is robust and the defenders have powerful cannons. We are repelled by the idea of shooting - metaphorically - at our English friends. But, if they force us, we’ll do it.
Updated
German media have been unusually blunt in their assessment of the level of debate in the British elections, and particularly scathing in its assessment of Boris Johnson.
“The country is moving into a new era,” wrote correspondent Cathrin Kahlweit in a leader for Süddeutsche Zeitung, a broadly left-leaning, serious broadsheet.
“It will become more insular, cultivate a less civil form of patriotism, inflict more harm on minorities. Necessary reforms – a new electoral law, a written constitution, better public services – are likely to be postponed.”
Centre-right broadsheet Die Welt wrote that Johnson’s promise to “Get Brexit Done” would “blow up in his face”. “He keeps quiet about the fact that the hard part [of the negotiations] only starts after the withdrawal.”
Der Spiegel had a thorough look at Britain’s likely future beyond the election and came to a conclusion that runs against the tenor of the debate in the British media: “A Labour victory would be a blessing for the economy. Because in the case of a victory Corbyn wants to negotiate a ‘soft’ Brexit deal with the EU ... which should be better for the economy than Johnson’s comparatively hard Brexit.”
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Queues are usually rare at polling stations, according to research that involved surveys of poll workers, emails Prof Toby James, head of politics at the University of East Anglia.
Only 2% of poll workers reported a problem with queues at the 2018 and 2019 local elections, while 6% reported problems at the 2015 general election.
The problem that tends to be much more frequently experienced are voters being turned away because they are not on the electoral register (but think that they are because they pay council tax).
Hopefully, recent registration drives ahead of the election will mean that we will see less of this today.
Problems with the accessibility of polling stations and voters instructing each other how to vote were also often reported in our research.
Overall, however, elections do tend to be very well run – and credit must be given to the electoral officials who have been working under severe pressure ahead of the election.
Queues at polling stations is not the norm in UK elections, as research shows: https://t.co/mjaKks1AL5
— Toby James 🔰 (@TobySJames) December 12, 2019
Social media is very impressionistic, but some folk are certainly having to wait this morning. #GE2019 (1/2) https://t.co/8h6Ia8AWi7
The leader of the Democratic Unionist party, Arlene Foster, has cast her vote in Co Fermanagh, wearing a union jack shawl.
Foster arrived at the polling station at Brookeborough primary school shortly after 10am
Updated
Voters in Bermondsey, south-east London, faced difficulty getting to one polling station after an apparent burst water water main caused flooding in the road around it.
Hannah Tookey, who waded through the water to cast her vote, tweeted: “It was too deep to wade through the middle, even in wellies.”
Graham Kings, was prevented from voting by the flooding. He said: “I could have gone home and put wellington boots on and waded across the flooded road to try to get in, but had to go to work and so will vote this evening.”
Please vote today! Even if you have to wade through a burst water main to do it... #GE2019 #UKElection pic.twitter.com/gDvH0G5XVn
— Hannah Tookey (@hannaheugenie) December 12, 2019
A Southwark council spokeswoman said a polling station inspector had helped voters to get in and cast their votes.
“No one was prevented from voting at any point,” she told PA Media. “Access to the voting station wasn’t compromised at all.”
A Thames Water spokesman said the pipe was damaged by a third party carrying out roadworks in the area. The water supply is being re-routed to the properties in the area while Thames Water repairs the pipe, the spokesman added.
— Hannah Tookey (@hannaheugenie) December 12, 2019
Updated
Sturgeon votes
Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, was joined by her partner, Peter Murrell, as well as the SNP’s Glasgow East candidate David Linden, as she cast her vote at Broomhouse Park Community Hall.
The Scottish Conservative leader, Jackson Carlaw, will cast his vote at Clarkston Hall in East Refrewshire, while Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard, voted at the Ralston Community Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Updated
Boris Johnson has broken from tradition by not voting in his own constituency, PA points out.
He was photographed with his dog at polling station in Methodist Central Hall, in the marginal constituency of Cities of London and Westminster where the Conservative are defending a narrow majority of 3,148.
The party faces a high-profile challenge in the seat from Chuka Umunna, who joined the Liberal Democrats this year after quitting the Labour party earlier this year..
Johnson opted to vote in central London despite a heavy tactical voting campaign to oust him from his own Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat.
Johnson took the seat with a 5,034 majority at the snap election two years ago but pro-European Union campaigners have urged remainers to unite behind Labour’s Ali Milani in a bid to topple the PM.
On polling day in 2017, then-prime minister Theresa May voted in her constituency of Maidenhead and David Cameron had his say in Witney in 2015.
At the General Election in 2010, Gordon Brown turned up to his local polling station in North Queensferry, situated in the Dunfermline and West Fife constituency he resided in and next to his own seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.
Tony Blair also voted with his family at a polling station in his constituency of Sedgefield, County Durham, in 2005, even though he had been in Downing Street for eight years by that point.
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Swinson votes
The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, and her husband, Duncan Hames, have cast their votes at Castlehill Primary School in Bearsden in her constituency of East Dunbartonshire.
Updated
Solicitor Emily Waterhouse got in touch with the Guardian to tell us that she had to wait an hour to vote at her polling station, Stour Space on Roach road, in the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow.
When Waterhouse arrived at the polling station at 8.15am she said that were about 50 people in the queue:
The problem was there was only one woman there taking the register. I’m lucky my workplace is lenient so I could wait but everyone is trying to get to work. There were about 150 in the queue when I left at 9.15.
Updated
Corbyn votes
The Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was greeted by a small number of supporters as he and his wife, Laura Alvarez, arrived to cast their votes in north London.
A protester dressed as Elmo, a character from children’s TV programme Sesame Street, was restrained by security guards as she tried to approach Corbyn as he entered the polling station.
As the woman in fancy dress argued with security and police, Corbyn said: “Hello guys, can we stop the arguments please.”
Updated
And there have been queues too in Lucy Powell’s safe Labour seat of Manchester Central.
Big queues to vote in Manchester: '100 people' in queue at Ancoats polling station... #GeneralElection2019https://t.co/HgNw3jcvJg pic.twitter.com/6hX1KQDwmc
— Manchester News MEN (@MENnewsdesk) December 12, 2019
So far the only reports of queues we are aware of in a marginal Tory seat are in the south-west London seat of Putney.
Queuing round the block in Putney #GeneralElection2019 pic.twitter.com/U08fRhLAWl
— Lisa Philpott (@LisaPhilpott) December 12, 2019
Vote!
— Omar Daair (@omardaair) December 12, 2019
As my mum and brother are abroad, I've voted in 3 polling stations in Wimbledon and Putney. All busy and a lot of young people (especially Putney).
Have your say. #proxyvote #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/YgKH7YrbkM
Updated
Reports of long queues in London continue to be posted on Twitter, but here’s one outside the capital in Cambridge, where Labour’s Daniel Zeichner is defending a 12,661 majority.
That's the first time I've ever had to queue & wait outside of a polling station in order to exercise my right to vote here in #Cambridge (local or otherwise).
— John E. Walsh #FBPE #LoveMinsmere (@akazeeox) December 12, 2019
Hope it bodes well for a good #GE2019 turn out nationally on this rather dreary day. #GeneralElection19 #GeneralElection pic.twitter.com/UkbXn9TzS8
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France’s media have been following the UK election campaign closely, and did not take long to draw their conclusions. “Boris Johnson: the liar weakening Europe,” was the front-page splash in the popular Le Parisien tabloid last month.
The paper called the prime minister as “Europe’s bogeyman”, a politician for whom “pretty much everything is either an empty promise, economical with the truth, or a downright lie”.
The French press have cottoned on to Boris. 'Boris Johnson- The liar who is weakening Europe'. @le_Parisien calls @BorisJohnson a 'crafty devil, manipulator but amiable' and notes that he's been caught lying numerous times throughout his career... pic.twitter.com/lVnhnsr2Y2
— Ben McPartland (@McPBen) November 26, 2019
Le Monde said, earlier this week, that neither Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn looked particularly promising for Europe. The Labour leader was “a leftwing Eurosceptic who views the EU as a capitalists’ club”, it said, “and has never admitted that leaving will jeopardise all his fine promises of a radical social and economic reform”.
But the paper reserved its fiercest criticism for Johnson. “No longer the clown, the prime minister has started to show his true face,” it said. “Brutal; hungry for power; fleeing the public and awkward questions; disregarding parliament; brandishing a nationalism and an arrogance worthy of Trump.”
For all Europeans, starting with Britain’s closest neighbours and partners, the French, “the entrenchment of a sort of mini-Trump, who dreams of tearing up social and environmental standards and transforming the UK into a tax haven at the doors of the continent, would be very bad news”.
In its eve-of-election analysis, Libération was equally damning. This was, it said, “a different kind of election, far more than the simple renewal of a democratic parliament. Its outcome will define the country’s future for several generations.”
And yet the five-week campaign had been “brutal, packed with untruths and even outright lies, bitter, devoid of substantive debate. It was also, and above all, uninspiring. Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn have both, for very different reasons, broken all records for unpopularity.”
So will voters choose “Corbyn’s radical, hard-left programme, or the certainty of Brexit on a plate by Johnson? The two leaders both talk of uniting the country after three years of division. But each led a deeply polarising campaign. The chance that those fractures will heal fast looks slim indeed.”
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And now for some London voting queues north of the river. First, in Jeremy Corbyn’s Islington North seat.
In ten years of voting at this Polling Station - always at same time: on way to drop children off at school - there’s never been a queue. Today, it’s out the door.
— Harry Wallop (@hwallop) December 12, 2019
Very odd. Especially as I’m in Corbyn’s ultra safe seat. pic.twitter.com/6400VhSJgO
Next in another in safe Labour seat of Hornsey and Wood Green.
Queues outside Muswell Hill #PollingStation this morning - don’t forget to vote! #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/Q8wbBDdd4T
— Marie-Claire (@MCPlatt) December 12, 2019
And third in Bethnal Green and Bow, where Labour also has a big majority.
@TH_Labour @THLDs @StourSpace @TowerHamletsNow over an hour's queue to vote, one person working, people leaving all the time due to wait. Can anything be done about it?? pic.twitter.com/ZbjhiMQvsR
— Josh Hogan (@jj_hogues) December 12, 2019
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Not everyone has had to brave the cold this morning as some of our readers outside the UK have been in touch to tell us how they feel watching the election from abroad.
Rory from south London is on holiday in Laos:
My other half and I are on holiday on Don Det island in Laos for polling day (don’t worry – we voted by post before we left)! Luckily it will be our breakfast time as the results start pouring in so we will be readily refreshing the Politics Live blog. We were at Glastonbury in 2016 for the EU referendum and in Goa in 2016 for Trump’s election but hoping for a better result tomorrow.
Phil, an English teacher in Hamburg, Germany feels a huge sense of foreboding
Sitting here sipping my cuppa before work as a UK national who has been outside the UK for more than 15 years feeling a huge sense of foreboding. I am disenfranchised for the first time in my life and fear what will happen to us expats under a nationalist Tory government. Please tell me the British public aren’t gonna fall for their crap again. It feels somewhat like an abusive relationship cycle.
Ric, who is in his 20s and works in online gaming in Gibraltar believes this election is about Brexit:
I live on the rock and sent my postal vote last week. I’m enthused by the queues at polling stations in the UK. I think this is the most important election of our generation. It’s often said that this isn’t about Brexit, but ultimately if it wasn’t for the Brexit deadlock we wouldn’t be having an election at all. Of course issues around the NHS, policing and education are important but this election is an attempt at giving us another say on Brexit. In Gibraltar we overwhelmingly voted to remain, we rely on fluidity at our border with Spain, so workers, goods, food and medicine can cross. For me, I think we need another say ... and this election is giving us that!
And another Guardian reader is at work in Shanghai:
Currently sat with one eye on work and one eye on the Guardian website watching with trepidation. Postal vote already made.
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While Spain has endured two inconclusive general elections this year - and remains in the hands of a caretaker government - the country is still intrigued and appalled by the UK’s own political contortions.
In a dispatch from London, El Mundo’s UK correspondent, Carlos Fresneda, discerns a clear drift towards Trumpism.
“Many people see the hostile and belligerent attitude [Boris Johnson] showed towards parliament in his first two months as a taste of things to come,” he writes.
“They fear that, bolstered by the ballot boxes and with an absolute majority, Boris Johnson could behave like a true despot and bring about a definitive split from Europe that sees British society lurch towards the US model (after all, he was born in New York).”
The paper’s leader on Thursday morning is equally blunt. The UK, it says, is “fatally fractured” as a result of Brexit and has succumbed to populism more than any other EU country.
Rafael Ramos, London correspondent for La Vanguardia, has filed a report from Tony Blair’s former constituency, Sedgefield.
There he finds that Labour’s once impregnable “red wall” is looking vulnerable: “A blue tsunami is on its way and it’s being ridden by the blond menace Boris on a surfboard emblazoned with the word Brexit and done out in the colours of the Union Jack.”For others, the British media’s election coverage is, as ever, a story in itself.
Sergio Maydeu-Olivares, an international relations consultant, has tweeted some of Thursday’s front pages: the Scottish Sun’s call for the last person to leave Britain to snuff out the candles if Corbyn wins; the Mail’s desperate plea to back Boris; and the Daily Record’s call to make Scotland a Tory-free land.” The UK press is going out on a limb over Thursday’s election – and how,” he writes. “No blushes. No subtlety. Check it out …”
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More photos queues to vote in south London, this time in Streatham, a safe Labour seat:
I’ve never seen such queues at the polling station before #vote pic.twitter.com/lvIe3jUnuj
— Dr Martin Archer (@martinarcher) December 12, 2019
The biggest queue I’ve ever seen at my polling station! Get out there and vote people! #GE2109 #iVoted #BeAVoter #clapham pic.twitter.com/BjXunRqbKe
— Kelly Molloy (@sparklysparkly) December 12, 2019
And another in the Tory marginal of Putney.
A queue to vote this morning! Whatever your beliefs, values or views, make sure you use your vote today. You matter! pic.twitter.com/52gTGqC6Dm
— craigfordham (@craigfordham) December 12, 2019
Putney. The queue was actually bigger on my way out
— craigfordham (@craigfordham) December 12, 2019
I see from my Twitter it’s happening all over South London, and it’s happening in #Putney too!! Queues like I’ve never seen before. Get out there and vote your little hearts out ♥️ #GE2019 #GeneralElection2019 #Vote #HaveYourSay pic.twitter.com/SVpRCesTtE
— Soph K (@SophK05) December 12, 2019
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Johnson votes
Boris Johnson kissed his dog Dilyn after voting at Methodist Central Hall near Downing Street.
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Long voting queues in London
More reports of long queues in South London, this time in Putney, where Justine Greening won a narrow majority of 1,554 for the Tories in 2017 but is not standing in this election.
There’s a queue to vote here in very marginal Putney!! I’ve never had to queue before... #GE2109 #iVoted pic.twitter.com/yOaIxnHJrz
— Claire Hazelgrove (@CHazelgrove) December 12, 2019
And Camberwell, in Harriet Harman’s safe Labour seat.
My run & vote plan slightly scuppered by queues out the door in camberwell #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/IhNQ4rZOj9
— George Kean Proudfoot (@pojmasta) December 12, 2019
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There have also been big queues in Balham, in the London constituency of Tooting, where Labour’s Rosena Allin-Khan won a majority of 15,458 in 2017.
@BBCNews I've been living in Balham, London for 6 years, I have never seen a queue like this at my polling station. pic.twitter.com/JCjVdeGruo
— Aidan Cönway (@onzlo99) December 12, 2019
There have been queues already in Battersea, reports Steven Swinford, the deputy political editor of the Times.
Labour’s Marsha de Cordova is defending a 2,416 majority in Battersea.
Big queue of 100+ people ahead of me at the polling station in marginal Battersea
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) December 12, 2019
There’s 50 odd people behind me too#GE2019 🗳 pic.twitter.com/TWNcIsAxEz
So.... leave earlier than you planned. 30 minute wait to vote at my polling station. Apparently turnout across #Battersea is high so far. People leaving the queue to come back later! Lots of people dropping of postal ballots. Staff out chatting to folk and it is moving 🌹☑️ pic.twitter.com/AIu5sr5ckc
— Dr Oonagh Murphy (@OonaghTweets) December 12, 2019
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Voter selfie of the day so far:
Wet windy on the South Coast in Sussex, with a chill of 7 degrees. Contrary to past experience there was a surprising queue at the polling station. pic.twitter.com/HJurSZU8dx
— Christopher Burke 🕷🕷 (@ChristophrBurke) December 12, 2019
As this is the first December election for almost a century early voters have had to brave the dark as well as well as the cold.
But there was already a small queue before polls opened in Caversham, in Reading East, where Labour is defending a 3,749 majority.
Only a dog had to wait outside in the dark at a polling station in Bury North.
Here’s some more gloomy early voting photos:
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Please keep posting your comments below, but don’t say how you voted. The Representation of the People Act outlaws the reporting of how people voted.
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We’d like you to show us polling day where you are – share your pictures, videos and stories and we’ll add them to the live blog. You can get in touch by filling in our form, contacting us via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding the contact +44(0)7867825056, and if you are a first time voter you can share your photos via Instagram using #guardianfirsttimevoter. You can read terms of service here.
Please don’t take photos or videos inside the polling booth as this could be a breach of the law. However before you go in, or after you come out, is great. Though you may want to tell us who you are voting for, we won’t be able to publish these until after polling closes at 10pm. If there are any issues voting, we’d like to hear about these too.
The polling day weather forecast is pretty dire: wet and cold and even some snow on higher ground.
Polls have opened
Voting has started, ladies and gents. Polls opened at 7am and will stay open until 10pm.
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How the papers covered it
Thursday’s GUARDIAN: “Corbyn urges voters to deliver ‘shock to the establishment’ “ #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/acOyo9GlBG
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Daily TELEGRAPH: “Election on knife edge as Tory lead narrows” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/YDCH8r9BxX
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Daily MAIL: “Your vote has never been more vital. Today, you MUST brave the deluge to go to your local polling station and back... BORIS” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/EP7SIJrnbJ
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Daily EXPRESS: “BreXit AND Britain In Your Hands” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/kxLMgYwdhV
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s FINANCIAL TIMES: “Polls cast doubt on Tory hopes of securing a decisive majority” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/WlLfg1vUON
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s i - “Britain’s future: you decide” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/s2jZY2bGmN
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Daily MIRROR: “For Them.. Vote Labour” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/NHSezMx8CT
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s SCOTSMAN: “Decision day” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/Tifx00HoyJ
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
#BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/CHJtmmB0cz
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Daily RECORD: “Make Scotland Tory-Free Today” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/ExrlXV5Yze
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
Thursday’s Scottish Daily MAIL: “Nightmare Before Christmas” #BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/ULrNdRAi8m
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) December 11, 2019
And we’ve heard from the PM as well:
Today is our chance to get Brexit done. Vote Conservative.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) December 12, 2019
Other election news at a glance
- Nigel Farage says his Brexit party candidates have been “hounded” over the course of a “very nasty” campaign.
- The BBC has said its political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, did not break electoral law when she reported claims that postal ballots painted a “grim” picture for Labour.
- Gary Younge has been back to his hometown of Stevenage to see what voters are thinking.
- We’ve factchecked the Tories’ claim that the cost of the festive season for families will rise by more than £100 under Jeremy Corbyn. It won’t.
- Research shows how Labour and the Conservatives have hidden away senior figures deemed to be embarrassing or “off message”.
- John Crace has his final campaign sketch: Johnson ends painful campaign with usual bad gags and lies.
- We’ve pulled together some of the best images from the election campaign.
- Here’s what the papers say as Britain goes to the ballot box.
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Corbyn’s team are up and tweeting.
For the many, not the few.#VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/rKYYG4VfaW
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 12, 2019
Our country is beautiful and it deserves a government that will truly care for it. Today, #VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/3KhITA3k43
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 12, 2019
Vote Labour today to save our NHS, to bring about real change and create a country that works for the many, not the few.#VoteLabour pic.twitter.com/du8zccWsSp
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) December 12, 2019
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And because it really deserves a post of its own, let’s remember that yesterday, Johnson’s final day was marred by accusations he hid in a fridge in order to avoid an interview with Good Morning Britain.
Here’s the moment:
Marina Hyde, the woman who has kept me both sane and amused throughout this campaign, called the moment “the final frontier in election WTF-ery”. Here’s more from her, though it really is worth reading her entire column in full:
Time for a historical perspective, perhaps: despite having an underground bedroom as part of the war rooms complex, Boris Johnson’s hero Winston Churchill declined to sleep in it any more than four or five times in the entire second world war, including during the blitz when London was under sustained nightly bombardment. Without wishing to go out on a limb, then, it is difficult to imagine Churchill fleeing a lone Pathé news camera to conceal himself inside a refrigerator. Johnson’s move forces an urgent reordering of the top three most embarrassing places British politicians have hidden because they couldn’t handle the consequences of their actions. This now goes: 3. Edinburgh pub – Nigel Farage. 2. Disabled loo – Ken Livingstone. 1. Fridge – Boris Johnson.
Tim Dowling has this handy guide to five politicians who have hidden – in fridges, toilets and behind trees.
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Good Election Day morning everyone!
We made it, we’re here, the campaign is finally over. It’s been a whirlwind six weeks, let’s have a wrap of some the happenings and absurdities we’ve witnessed in that time: the leaders have travelled across the country, stolen phones, hidden in fridges, refused to apologise for their party’s handling of antisemitism when repeatedly asked by Andrew Neil, refused to be interviewed by Andrew Neil at all, posed in boxing rings, posed bulldozing a menacing tower of styrofoam blocks, watched as their confident promise of becoming prime minister quickly became a vanishingly small prospect, or as their pledge to help the Tories by pulling out of seats backfired.
Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn whipped across the country yesterday as part of a frantic final day, seeking to woo the undecided voter and cement support among their bases.
As for what result we’ll see tonight, the Guardian’s election opinion polls tracker shows the gap between Labour and Tories narrowing – though it comes with the usual caveats about relying on polls. Dan Sabbagh has written this guide to four election scenarios: from a thumping Tory win to a Corbyn coalition.
Thanks for your company over the last 30 (week)days of this campaign. We’re almost at the end, though who knows what will happen next. Let’s do this.
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