From exit poll to swing seats: 10 key moments to watch as election results roll in

From left: the Lib Dems’ Ed Davey, the Conservatives’ Rishi Sunak, Labour’s Keir Starmer, the Greens’ Carla Denyer and Reform leader Nigel Farage. Composite: EPA/Getty images/Reuters/The Guardian

The electoral asteroid is nearly upon us: Rishi Sunak presides over a government rejected by record numbers of voters in the polls. The Conservatives go into election day having lost more than half of their support, and polling more than 10 points below their worst ever previous result. No wonder that polls project a record swing to Labour, larger, by far, than in any previous postwar election.

Some projections have the Tories falling below 100 seats – an extinction-level event for Britain’s oldest and most electorally successful party. Thursday looks set to be a night of historic political drama: here are the key things to look out for as the night goes on.