Sort of like how, in the US, it’s Tradition for elections to be on Tuesdays, and there are reasons for that that made sense at one time, but they mostly don’t any more, and few people even know the original reasons, but it’s Tradition now.
Apparently the first election when all the voting was on the same day was 1918, and the last time it wasn’t on a Thursday was 1931.
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04512/SN04512.pdf
I’ve always assumed it was the administrative convenience of getting everyone back down to work on the Monday. I understand it’s usual practice to have dedicated teams of civil servants preparing in advance of an election for a new regime, so that they can hit the ground running.
This is a likely factor, and a significant difference that US posters need to be aware of.
If Labour wins today, there will be a new government and PM in a few days, not months from now.
(We’re not quite so prompt in Canada as the Brits, but usually a change of government and new PM occurs here within two weeks of the election.)
One of the things I like about the British system is how quickly the handover of power occurs. It’s become increasingly common in the US for Congress to hold a “lame duck” session between the election and the swearing in of the next Congress, where important decisions are made by politicians who may have lost their majority or are on their way out entirely and have nothing to lose.
Yes, that’s not possible in Westminster parliamentary systems. There is no House of Commons right now, after dissolution. The House doesn’t exist until the new lot gets sworn in after the election.
Which will be next week, and the State Opening/King’s Speech to announce the legislative programme on the 17th. Starmer has said he’d want Parliament to sit until August to get some first measures through.
I suppose the nearest they get to a lame duck session is the “wash up” between announcing the election and the formal dissolution, where they rush through whatever technical and non-controversial legislation can be saved from the government’s programme.
Is this a working day in the UK?
So polls are probably closing there - are there any early scores yet? I’ll bet it’s different from here, with a whole shmear of time zones and staggered closings.
Election day in the UK is not a Bank Holiday. And they certainly dont get Indepence Day off either. 
Polls don’t close for another hour. There will be a smattering of results a couple hours later, but we won’t know any more for another 5 or 6 hours, realistically.
Was that the anniversary of the day you lot decimalized the Pound sterling? Or would that be more like OutwitDePence day? 
Election day should be a holiday, or at least be done on Sundays, otherwise you are tilting the results in favor of those who do not have to work that day.
Polls are open until 10pm, and postal votes are available to those that need them (although there’s been issues with those this time around).
Well, I dont know about the UK, but here in the States a LOT of workers dont get a federal Holiday off anyway. And iirc the polls are open long enough in the UK you’;d have to be working a 12 hour shift with no time off.
Here in CA, at least, if the polls are closed during your working hours, you can get four paid hours time off.
I seem to recall that Shy Conservatives was actually used to explain why an exit poll was badly wrong a few years ago, possibly when Cameron got in?
Polling stations are open from 07:00 to 22:00, 15 hours.
I suspect a lot of the “shy Conservatives” will get drawn off by Reform this time. I’m guessing they’ll pick up 5-10 seats.
Could be, could be, but Farage has been disappointed before - UKIP managed to pick 12% of the vote in 2015, which translated into 1 seat.
Exit poll results: a Labour landslide
No surprises here.
Lab 410
Con 131
LD 61
Ref 13
SNP 10
PC 4
Grn 2
But the real results will drip in and all the individual results will be interesting.