It’s election day with a difference as polling stations operate under coronavirus restrictions across Great Britain.
On what has been dubbed Super Thursday, polling stations opened at 7am in the largest test of political opinion outside a general election, with the future of the Labour Party and the state of the Union among the issues at play.
But there were still many familiar sights, with party leaders posing for pictures after they voted and plenty of #dogsatpollingstations photos to brighten up social media.
Signs warned voters to wear masks – and that selfies were not permitted (Andrew Matthews/PA)Voters were urged to use hand sanitiser – and to take their own pen or pencil to mark the ballot (Andrew Matthews/PA)There were unusually snowy conditions at a Scottish Parliamentary election polling station in the village of Farr, near Inverness (Paul Campbell/PA)Some voters had to cast their ballots in a car boot after the church warden due to open a polling station ‘overslept’ (Toby Porter/Twitter/PA)Golfers practise their putting as they arrive to cast their votes in the Scottish Parliamentary election at the polling station in the club house at the Merchants of Edinburgh Golf Club (Lesley Martin/PA)
While selfies are not allowed in polling stations, social media was full of dogs waiting patiently outside for their democratically minded owners.
A voting pit-stop during a morning walk in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA)Bertie waits for its owner at the polling station at Saint Stephen’s Comely Bank Church in Scotland (Lesley Martin/PA)There was no shortage of patient dogs outside a polling station in Dulwich, south-east London (Anna Skipwith/@hellosocialLdn/Twitter/PA)Mayoralty candidate Sadiq Khan took his dog Luna to his London polling station (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)
Party leaders across England, Wales and Scotland were also spotted casting their votes.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arrives at Greenwood Centre polling station at St Albans Church in north London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)Prime Minister Boris Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds leave Methodist Central Hall in central London (Stefan Rousseau/PA)Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and his wife Clare voted at St Catherine’s church hall in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA)Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was accompanied by his wife Krystle and son Alistair at Alves Hall in Moray (Paul Campbell/PA)Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie arrived on his bike in Glasgow (Jane Barlow/PA)