iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) — Polling stations across the U.K. have opened for general elections and police are urging voters to be on alert following recent attacks on the London Bridge and Manchester Arena.
Voters will elect 650 members of Parliament, but they are not voting for a new prime minister; usually the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons forms the new government and its leader then becomes prime minister.
The general threat level in the country is set to “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely as the country faces “unprecedented times,” according to one senior police official.
“We appreciated that these are unprecedented times and together with our partners we continue to do everything we can to help protect the public,” Lucy D’Orsi, deputy assistant commissioner and head of protective security at the National Police Chiefs Council, said.
He added, “Security around polling stations is constantly being reviewed and updated by local police forces. Plans are in place to make sure that resources are appropriately allocated and that these plans are flexible and can be enhanced at short notice should it become necessary.”
London’s Metropolitan Police also said that a security operation will be in place that can respond to any potential incident if needed.
“Following the attack on Saturday night a full review of the policing operation for Thursday, June 8 has been carried out,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Prime Minister Theresa May and her main opponent, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, have already cast their votes.
About 46.9 million people are registered to vote, an increase from the last general election in 2015 in which 46.4 million were registered.
May called the snap election in April an attempt to increase her party’s majority in Parliament ahead of negotiations with the European Union about the British exit of the bloc.
But since then, May has lost popularity over her campaigning style and some of her social care policies, including a so-called “dementia tax” that would force elderly to pay more for their care.
A very personalized, almost presidential style of campaigning has contributed to the Conservative Party’s apparent loss of support, said Mark Goodwin, lecturer at the department of political science and international studies at the University of Birmingham in England.
“Theresa May has been in British politics for quite a long time, but she is not somebody with a huge media profile or who is associated with particular policy positions,” Goodwin told ABC News. “She seems to have found it very difficult to kind of do the baby-kissing part of campaigning.”
May’s political rivals criticized her when she chose to stay away from a televised election debate on May 31. Corbyn showed up and at one point asked: “Where is Theresa May, what happened to her?”
Even though the gap between the Conservatives and Labour has tightened, polls generally predict that the Conservatives will win a majority of votes.
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