UK voters go to polls in elections that could prove historic in Northern Ireland and heap further pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson
- Contest for the devolved assembly in Belfast could see a pro-Irish nationalist party win for the first time in the troubled history of the British province
- Poor results could reignite simmering discontent for Boris Johnson within his ruling Conservatives about his leadership, after a string of recent scandals
Local and regional elections were being held across the UK on Thursday that could prove historic in Northern Ireland and heap further pressure on embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The contest for the devolved assembly in Belfast could see a pro-Irish nationalist party win for the first time in the troubled history of the British province.
The results, expected from Friday, could have huge constitutional implications for the four-nation UK’s future, with predicted victors Sinn Fein committed to a vote on reunification with Ireland.
Voters are electing councils in Scotland, Wales and much of England, with Johnson facing a potentially pivotal midterm popularity test.
Poor results could reignite simmering discontent within his ruling Conservatives about his leadership, after a string of recent scandals.
The prime minister voted in central London with his dog Dilyn, while the main UK opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer cast his ballot in the north of the capital with his wife, Victoria.
Johnson, 57, won a landslide 2019 general election victory by vowing to take the UK out of the European Union, and reverse rampant regional inequality.