Live updates: UK election could see Conservatives ousted from power

Older couples walked hand in hand into the local church, where temporary ballot boxes had been set up, along with parents with children in strollers and young adults entering on their way to work.

One by one, they weighed up the country’s future in a vote that polls suggest could end 14 years of Conservative-led government.

“I just want to see change,” said Sam Argha, 36, who stood outside the polling station Thursday morning. “I just really want us to do something different.”

Many in the city expressed a similar desire for a fresh start at a time of intense national uncertainty. Polls predicted the election could be a major turning point, with the centre-left Labour Party expected to dethrone the right-wing Conservative Party, possibly in a landslide.

Portsmouth North is seen as a defining seat, having voted for the winning political party at every general election since 1974.

It also serves as a microcosm of the broader national challenge facing the governing party: a Conservative constituency that has been held by a popular candidate for years and is now at risk of disappearing, and a largely disillusioned electorate expressing frustrations about the quality of their lives and what many see as a lack of leadership.

Since 2010, the seat has been held by Penny Mordaunt, a Conservative MP. Her prominent role at the coronation of King Charles III last year, at which she wielded a heavy, jewel-encrusted ceremonial sword, attracted international attention for her steadfastness and poise.

Ms Mordaunt, who is seen as a possible candidate for the leadership of her party, is well liked in Portsmouth and some local residents said they had no intention of moving in a new direction. But polls have suggested that Labour voters in the constituency could still get more support from the Conservatives on Thursday.

The centrist Liberal Democrats — considered the third most popular party here — and the far-right Reform UK party could also steal votes from the Conservatives.

“I hope the government will be much more compassionate from Friday,” said Grahame Milner, 62, who was walking through the city centre with his husband of 30 years on Wednesday afternoon.

Many of the shops around the couple were empty or boarded up. Graffiti marked the sides of closed department stores. There is little to attract people to the area, other than bookmakers, charity shops and small shops selling vapes, Mr Milner said.

He first came here to serve in the Navy — the city is home to the country’s largest naval base — and was deployed as a cook aboard a military ship during the Falklands War in the 1980s. He was expelled from the military because of his sexual orientation, he said, and later became heavily involved in union work after returning to civilian life. He had already voted by post last week.

“The austerity programme is absolutely crippling for the working class,” Mr Milner said, pointing to the number of workers who rely on food banks to get by. “This is simply not the Britain I served in the military.”

Many residents were concerned about the erosion of the National Health Service, the cost of living that was causing hardship for many people, the debate over immigration and the implications of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Some said they had no intention of voting at all because they were disappointed with politicians from all walks of life.

“It’s always been Labour for us, but I won’t be voting this year,” said Tracy Patton, 59, who has lived in the city all her life and said she was fed up with politics. Sitting outside a pub on Wednesday night, she mused with friends about how the once bustling market place had changed.

“It was busy, there was atmosphere,” she said. “But now it’s going downhill. There’s just no money in England anymore.”

For some younger voters, the prospect of an uncertain future weighs heavily. Daisy Quelch, 28, and Kiran Kaur, 24, packed up after an outdoor boxing lesson by the waterfront on Southsea Common.

“Sometimes it feels like our world is collapsing,” Ms. Quelch said, adding that she was particularly concerned about climate change and the environment. “We want to see change, but it can’t happen fast enough.”

Earlier this year, residents were warned not to swim in the sea after the local water company dumped raw sewage along the coastline. pollute the water.

Water pollution has become a campaign issue in many parts of Britain as some accuse the government of failing to stop the water industry, which was privatised in the 1980s during Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government, from dumping untreated waste into waterways.

Some former Conservative stalwarts said they were reconsidering their vote. Several considered casting their ballots for Reform UK, the populist, anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage, a brash and polarizing figure who has rocked the general election campaign.

But others defended the Conservative Party. In Dixie’s Pub, just off the high street, a group of patrons were playing pool on the eve of the election, the clacking of billiard balls mingling with the chatter.

Andrew Revis, 57, enjoying a pint at the bar after finishing work at his nearby accountancy firm, said he felt the Conservatives and Ms Mordaunt, whom he described as a capable and dedicated lawmaker, were being unfairly criticised.

“They are getting a lot of criticism, but I don’t think they have full control over that,” he said, pointing to the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which has caused unexpected hardships.

“It’s the cost of living,” said Kerry Harris, 36, who was sitting outside Iceland supermarket on Wednesday night with her niece Shanice Bakes, 19. She pointed to their bags. There was a time, Ms. Harris said, when a shopping trolley full of groceries cost about £50, or $65, but now she couldn’t fill a single bag for that price.

“And they’re not raising your wages, right?” she added.