BORIS Johnson’s Brexit dream is on a knife-edge tonight as millions queued at polling stations – sparking fears of a Remainer “youthquake”.
Tory voters are being urged to make their voices heard in the most important election of a generation.
If turnout is confirmed to be the highest in decades, Boris’s lead in the polls could tighten in the coming hours.
In past elections, high turnouts usually suggest Labour has succeeded in mobilising its younger and working class voters, who have in the past have not bothered to vote.
Tweeting today, Johnson urged Tories to turn out: “Today is our chance to get Brexit done. Vote Conservative.”
Voters braved freezing temperatures to line up outside community halls, churches and schools to have their say – and risked being a touch late for work.
Polls opened at 7am and will only close at 10pm – but thousands ofBrits were seen getting an early vote in during rush hour.
Astonishing pictures of snaking queues – particularly in South London – allayed fears of a low turnout in the first December election in nearly 100 years.
‘COULD GO EITHER WAY’
Voters in Wandsworth said they had to wait up to 45 minutes to vote – claiming it had taken less than five minutes during the morning rush hour in the last five elections.
Delia Lloyd tweeted: “Longest queues Ive seen in ten years of voting in this country. Election officials in my district agreed.”
While in Putney, voters were seen lining up outside a church as Justine Greening’s former seat goes up for grabs.
Elsewhere in the capital voters struggled to access their polling station after a water mains burst in Bermondsey this morning – but still managed to cast their vote.
Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at the Queen Mary University, said the length of the lines didn’t necessarily help either of the main parties.
“It depends who’s in the queues,” he said.
“In London we’ve seen in the past that a higher turnout in some constituencies will increase an already Labour majority, but not necessarily switch it.”
Professor Bale said the vote could “go either way” in the event of a high turnout but that it could help Labour and the Remain said.
He added: “Having said that, if there are lots of people are motivated to vote who might not normally vote, it could be a good sign for Leave, like in the Brexit referendum.”
‘KNIFE EDGE’
The third General Election in less than five years has been largely dominated by the 2016 vote to leave the European Union – with Labour pledging to give voters another say in a second referendum, while the Tories have vowed to take the UK out of the EU next month.
The last election in the UK in 2017 saw a 68.8 per cent turnout, higher than at at the 2015 and 2010 elections – with bookies offering 6-4 odds on a 65-70 per cent turnout this year.
In a final plea to voters on the eve of polling day, Mr Johnson warned that the election remained on a “knife edge”, but said it represented a chance to “end the gridlock”.
A poll by The Daily Telegraph and Savanta ComRes, published last night, placed the Tories five points ahead of Mr Corbyn’s party – indicating the potential for a Conservative majority or a hung parliament.
But a separate poll by Kantar put the Tories on 44%, Labour on 32% and the Liberal Democrats on 13%.
Prime Minister Mr Johnson, who gambled his premiership by triggering the vote, has sought to focus on his pledge to “get Brexit done” throughout the campaign.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, his rival in the race to Number 10, has instead tried to highlight his party’s credentials on the health service and other domestic issues.
Mr Johnson arrived at Central Methodist Hall in Westminster at around 8.15am to cast his vote, his dog Dilyn by his side.
Mr Corbyn, SNP’s Nichola Sturgeon and Jo Swinson were also seen entering their respective polling stations.
NARROWING POLLS
The polls have narrowed in the final week of what has largely been a tame campaign – with few gaffes and many stage-managed visits.
On Monday Mr Johnson came under fire when he pocketed a journalist’s phone when asked to view a photograph of a four-year-old boy who was forced to sleep on a hospital floor.
The following day, however, Labour’s campaign was rocked when a member of the shadow cabinet was revealed to have poured scorn on Mr Corbyn’s election chances in a leaked recording.
A terror attack on London Bridge – which echoed a similar incident in the middle of the 2017 election – briefly disrupted the campaign, but quickly turned political as the Tories and Labour exchanged blows over how to deal with such threats.
Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson said the polls showed it was still “absolutely possible” to deny the Tories an overall majority through tactical voting.
“We know from past elections that, very often, voters who vote tactically come to that conclusion in the final hours before they cast their vote,” she said.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, speaking in Doncaster, said he was hoping for “very, very heavy rain” in the town on Thursday, in the belief that it would depress the votes of the other parties.
“I know that people who are going to vote for us will turn out, because they absolutely believe in our message, they believe in their hearts as well as in their heads,” he said.
