Scottish party leaders cast ballots in General Election

Scottish party leaders are among those who have been voting as the country goes to the polls in the General Election.

Voters are casting their ballots on Thursday in the first UK-wide vote since 2019, with Labour tipped to win the keys to 10 Downing Street.

Polling places are open from 7am to 10pm, with results expected in the early hours of Friday.

The outlook is much less clear north of the border, with Labour looking to end more than a decade of SNP domination at Westminster.

John Swinney’s party won 48 seats in 2019, while the Tories took six and the Liberal Democrats four.

Labour was reduced to a single MP.

Sir Keir Starmer’s party – led in Scotland by Anas Sarwar – has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years against a backdrop of turmoil for the Conservatives , putting Labour in pole position this time around.

Mr Sarwar cast his vote at Pollokshields Burgh Hall in Glasgow on Thursday morning, accompanied by his wife Furheen and son Aliyan.

After voting, he hugged and shook hands with Labour candidate for Glasgow South West Zubir Ahmed, and shook hands with Labour activists as well as an SNP activist.

A woman with a sign that read “Starmer is a snake” approached and followed Mr Sarwar on to the street, before posing for pictures.

Mr Swinney voted at Burrelton Village Hall, Perthshire.

Accompanied by his 13-year-old son Matthew , the First Minister walked from his home to the polling station, greeting members of the media on the way in.

He also met his candidate Dave Doogan who is running in the Angus and Perthshire Glens constituency.

Scotland boasts a number of the more intriguing local battles in this election, including the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East seat.

Embattled outgoing Tory leader Douglas Ross is contesting the seat in the stead of former MP David Duguid – who was barred by Conservative bosses due to ill health – but he will not be facing a candidate backed by Labour.

Andy Brown – who was due to stand for the party – was suspended and stripped of support after reports of controversial social media posts, which he denies.

Mr Ross, his wife Krystle and sons James and Alistair held hands as they walked to the polling station in Fogwatt Hall, Fogwatt, near Elgin in Moray.

Glasgow could also become one of the major stories, with the city dropping from seven seats in the previous Parliament to six due to boundary changes.

Scotland’s biggest city was a Labour stronghold for decades before it lost all of its seats there in 2015 as it struggled to hold on to the unionist vote in Scotland, meaning Glasgow could become a battleground as the party seeks to win some seats back from the SNP.

Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton voted at Davidson’s Mains Parish Church in Edinburgh while co-leaders of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, cast their votes in Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively.