Infographic: Follow as seats are filled in the UK election

By the early hours of Friday July 5, the vast majority of constituencies will have declared

What happens next depends on whether one party has earned a majority — 326 of the 650 seats. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The polls have closed and now the counting begins across Britain and Northern Ireland. 

Polling stations across the UK opened at 7am, giving millions of voters the chance to decide if Conservative leader Rishi Sunak should remain in the top job or if Labour's Keir Starmer should lead a new government.