Where to read
Polls have opened in Britain for a general election called for earlier this year by Prime Minister Theresa May. In the final days before the vote, RealClearEurope is being updated with the top analysis and opinion from the campaign. Click here to see the latest views, and click here to view the final results of our poll average.
Politico EU has a good summary of what to expect on polling day and night. Polls close at 10 p.m. local time, or 5 p.m. Eastern. For live coverage as the day unfolds, click here and here for live blogs.
Background
The election has turned into a more dramatic affair than was expected. With a towering lead in the polls and the opposition Labour Party in disarray under the leadership of far-left Jeremy Corbyn, May called the election expecting to consolidate a strong majority for her Conservative Party in the House of Commons. (The Tories currently hold 330 seats in the 650-seat parliament.) Polling has since tightened dramatically, with individual polls giving the Tories anywhere between a 1-point and a 12-point lead at the time of writing. British pollsters swung a miss in the 2015 general election, however, when their numbers forecast the need for a coalition government; the Tories easily prevailed.
In recent days, the debate has swirled around security after the country was hit by its third terrorist attack in a matter of months. Everything from the so-called special relationship with the United States to Britain’s upcoming departure from the European Union is on the table as Brits ponder their vote.
For background, view the manifestos of the leading parties: The Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the UK Independence Party, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party.
To further parse the the leading candidates, check out our Topics pages on Jeremy Corbyn, Theresa May, and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon.