With 650 seats in the chamber of Commons, the lower chamber of the British parliament, up for grabs, the UK general election is currently underway.
Out of the 650 constituencies, the results indicate that Labour has already gained more than 400 seats.
Following a Conservative landslide that cost former prime minister Liz Truss her seat as well as the seats of 11 current cabinet members, Sir Keir Starmer will take over as Labour leader in the UK.
As his party is about to suffer its worst-ever electoral defeat, outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak stated he accepted responsibility for it.
This general election is also expected to have the lowest turnout in more than 20 years.
Here, the Evening Standard and PA news agency looks at some of the key turnout figures and trends in recent history.
What was the turnout in the 2024 general election?
The percentage of voters who participated was 59.8 per cent as 630 out of 650 results were announced.
The turnout for a general election would be the lowest since 2001, when it was 59.4 per cent, if the percentage hovers around 59.8 per cent.
The lowest turnout at a general election since World War II would occur if the percentage drops below 59.4 per cent.
What was the turnout at the last general election?
Some 67.3 per cent of people who were registered to vote in the 2019 general election cast a ballot.
The 2019 figure was down by 1.5 percentage points from 68.8 per cent in 2017.
It was the first time in four successive general elections that turnout had fallen.
The figure had previously been on a slow upwards trend, after slumping in 2001 to 59.4 per cent – the lowest turnout at a general election since the Second World War.
Why was turnout so low in 2001?
The academics David Butler and Dennis Kavanagh, writing in their study of the 2001 general election, listed several possible reasons for the low turnout, including the result being a foregone conclusion (every opinion poll put Labour well ahead); a largely uneventful campaign; a decline in the status of politicians in the eyes of voters; and a sense of there being little difference between the parties on the big issues of the day.
What is the highest turnout on record?
The highest ever turnout at a general election since the war was 83.9 per cent in 1950, according to figures compiled by the House of Commons Library.
This election saw Clement Attlee’s Labour government returned to power on a hugely reduced majority, cut from 147 in 1945 to just five.
The second highest turnout came a year later, in 1951, at 82.6 per cent.
Mr Attlee’s government lost this election, being replaced by a Conservative administration led by the former wartime prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, with a majority of 16.
What is the long-term trend in turnout?
Turnout remained above 75 per cent at every post-war general election until 1970, when it dipped to 72.0 per cent.
This election saw the Conservative Party led by Sir Edward Heath win a surprise victory, denying Labour, led by Harold Wilson, a third successive term in office.
Turnout then stayed above 70 per cent at every election until plunging to 59.4 per cent in 2001, since when it has never been above 70 per cent.
Does turnout go up when the election is particularly important?
There is no pattern to the spikes in turnout since the war, or evidence of a repeated surge in turnout at elections of particular significance.
For instance, at both the 1997 general election – which saw Labour win a landslide victory after 18 years in opposition – and the 2019 election – held amid the turmoil of Brexit negotiations – turnout was lower than at the preceding election.
How does turnout vary across the UK?
At the 2019 election, turnout was highest in south-west England (72.0 per cent) and south-east England (70.2 per cent), and lowest in Northern Ireland (61.8 per cent) and north-east England (64.2 per cent).
The difference was even greater among constituencies, with the highest turnout in the seats of Dunbartonshire East (80.3 per cent), Richmond Park (78.7 per cent) and Rushcliffe (78.5 per cent), and lowest in Hull East (49.3 per cent), Chorley (51.0 per cent) and Hull West & Hessle (52.1 per cent).
Do we know how turnout differs by age?
There are no official figures for turnout by age group.
Any data on turnout by age is based on surveys that are conducted by polling companies.
Ipsos has produced estimates of turnout for every general election since 1979, using people’s answers to pre-election surveys during the campaign.
At the 2019 general election, Ipsos estimated turnout to be highest among people aged 65 and over (74 per cent) and lowest among 18 to 24-year-olds (47 per cent).