General Election 2024: Norfolk's polling stations open

Hundreds of thousands across the county will cast their vote between 7am and 10pm, with opinion polls suggesting Labour is on course to secure a big majority in the House of Commons and form a new government.

It is the first General Election where voters will need to show photographic ID before they can receive their ballot paper following a law change in 2022.

An exit poll, published shortly after 10pm on Thursday, will provide the first indication of how the election has gone on a national level.

The Chantry Hall Polling Station in Chantry Road, Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley)

READ MORE: General Election 2024: The Norfolk and Waveney candidates

These take place at polling stations across the country, with tens of thousands of people asked to privately fill in a replica ballot as they leave, to get an indication of how they voted.

All 10 constituencies covering Norfolk are holding elections.

They are Broadland and Fakenham, Great Yarmouth, Mid Norfolk, North Norfolk, North West Norfolk, South Norfolk, South West Norfolk, Norwich North and Norwich South.

Voting is also under way in the brand new Waveney Valley constituency that straddles the border with Suffolk, as well as in Lowestoft.

The first of the 650 seats are likely to declare their results at 11.30pm.

Party leaders have made their final appeals to voters after touring the country since the election was called.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said Thursday represented a “pivotal moment” for the country’s future as he claimed Labour would “wield their unchecked power” to increase taxes should they secure a “supermajority”.

Mr Sunak was joined by his wife, Akshata Murty, as they visited a polling station to vote.

The polling stations close at 10pm today (Image: Press Association)

READ MORE: Election night: What times for Norfolk and Waveney results?

He said “morning” and waved at reporters as he entered Kirby Sigston Village Hall in Northallerton.

In his final stump speech on Wednesday evening, Mr Sunak said: “This underdog will fight to the final whistle.”

The PM called on Tory activists to continue campaigning, claiming they had “urgent work to do” to “save the UK” from a Labour government.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK “cannot afford” five more years under the Conservatives, adding Britain can “begin a new chapter” under his party.

Fraggle patiently waits outside the Julian Centre Polling Station in Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley)

He said: “Britain’s future is on the ballot.”

Sir Keir was also cheered by activists as he spoke at a community centre in Redditch, Worcestershire, as his campaigning came to a close.

He said: “That’s what we are fighting for, let’s continue that fight.

“If you want change, you have to vote for it.”

As the bookies’ favourite to be the next prime minister, Sir Keir said he was pleased with Labour’s campaign and his party was “ready for what comes next”.

READ MORE: Concerns over postal vote delays across South Norfolk

The Julian Centre Polling Station in Norwich (Image: Denise Bradley)

Ending a campaign that was dominated by headline-catching stunts, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey drove off in a pink Cadillac convertible with his deputy Daisy Cooper after his last election campaign stop.

The Lib Dem leader gave a stump speech at Hammond’s End Farm in Harpenden to the tune of ABBA’s Take A Chance On Me.

Sir Ed said he had enjoyed the campaign, which saw him travel the entire length of the UK, covering 6,000 miles on the Lib Dem’s Yellow Hammer One bus and bungee 160 feet.

He added: “Communities are angry. The water companies have been allowed to pour their filthy sewage into our rivers, lakes and onto our beaches. This has to change. The Conservatives have got to go.”

An average of all polls completed during the seven days to July 3 puts Labour on 39%, the party’s lowest rating since the campaign began, 18 points ahead of the Conservatives on 21%, followed by Reform on 16%, the Lib Dems on 11% and the Greens on 6%.