Polls suggest Labour landslide as Britain votes

Good morning. It’s election day in the UK, with the Labour party expected to win power in a historic landslide, leaving Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives facing one of the worst defeats in its history.

A series of opinion polls have suggested Sir Keir Starmer’s party is on course to win a House of Commons majority of more than 200, beating Sir Tony Blair’s 179 majority in 1997 and giving Labour its first general election victory since 2005.

If you need a recap of the campaign trail, read our summary of defining moments from the past six weeks, from Sunak’s soggy start to the election-betting scandal. Otherwise, here are some answers to key questions you may have as Britons start heading to the polls this morning:

After voting, join FT experts including Inside Politics newsletter writer Stephen Bush and Political Fix podcast host Lucy Fisher as they break down the results in our subscriber-only webinar tomorrow at 1pm GMT+1. Register now.

Here’s what else is happening today:

• Economic data: Construction purchasing managers’ indices are expected for the EU, UK, Germany and France, while Switzerland has its June consumer price index and unemployment rate.

• EU-China trade: The bloc’s tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China come into force.

• Markets closed: The US celebrates Independence Day.

Five more top stories

1. European central bankers have warned that risks including trade tensions and high government debt are piling up for the region’s economy. At the European Central Bank’s annual conference this week, falling inflation and rebounding growth in the Eurozone were overshadowed by the victory of Marine Le Pen’s far-right eurosceptic party in the first round of France’s parliamentary election. Martin Arnold reports from the event held at a luxury hotel in Sintra, near Lisbon.

2. Democratic state governors have backed Joe Biden despite polls showing a sharp fall in support for his candidacy and amid speculation that Kamala Harris could replace him in the White House race. The US president yesterday met more than 20 influential Democratic governors, including those seen as possible successors if he withdraws, shortly after a closed-door lunch with his vice-president. We have more from Washington as pressure mounts on Biden.

• Biden’s chief fundraiser: Media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg is facing blowback from Hollywood donors who accuse him of downplaying the president’s declining health.

• Is Kamala Harris ready?: As Biden’s support in the party leaks away, the vice-president is the leading contender to replace him. But how will she perform against Donald Trump?

3. Exclusive: Food from outside the EU is entering Britain unchecked, customs agents have warned. Sevington, the country’s main post-Brexit border control facility, has been beset by communication issues and delays as it struggles to implement a controls regime, the people said. Agents told the Financial Times that potentially risky animal and plant products are now entering with weaker checks or none at all.

4. The next UK government should penalise start-ups that accept state support if they later list overseas or move valuable operations abroad, according to the lobby group for British banks. UK Finance said in a paper this week: “There is a strong case for linking taxpayer supports to future commitments to using UK public markets and operating in the UK.” Here are more details from the group’s paper.

5. SoftBank is determined to prioritise investments in artificial intelligence and has no plans for an immediate share buyback despite pressure for a $15bn capital return programme from Elliott. “We believe this is a time when new investment activity should be taking place that will be the basis for the future growth of SoftBank Group,” the Japanese group’s chief financial officer told the FT, while declining to comment on any specific exchanges with the activist investor. Read the full interview.

The Big Read

Although pollsters expect France to have a hung parliament after Sunday’s vote, Rassemblement National is still expected to be the biggest force in the National Assembly with the most seats. Old-school retail politics have helped to detoxify the far-right movement founded by Marine Le Pen’s father and bring the party from fringe opposition to the brink of political power.

Don’t miss the pre-election special edition of Europe Express this Saturday, and submit your questions to our panel of FT experts. Tune in for their responses at lunchtime on Monday.

We’re also reading . . . 

• Iranian election: The presidential race between a reformist and a hardliner will be decided tomorrow by the silent majority who boycotted the first round of voting.

• An untold Nato story: More than two dozen people spoke to Henry Foy about one of the alliance’s most chaotic episodes: when Donald Trump threatened to withdraw support in 2018.

• Preqin deal: Founder Mark O’Hare has been catapulted into the ranks of Britain’s wealthiest people after the sale of the UK data group for £2.5bn to BlackRock.

• AI market hype: The mood is still fragile as investors struggle to shake the feeling that things are simply dusted in glitter, writes Katie Martin.

Chart of the day

Almost two and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europeans have widely diverging views on how the conflict will — or should — end, according to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Take a break from the news

Lhakpa Sherpa, a house cleaner and mother of two, has climbed Mount Everest 10 times, with little help from sponsors. Simon Usborne details her amazing double life and the even bigger challenges she has overcome off the mountain.

Additional contributions from Harvey Nriapia and Benjamin Wilhelm