London--Britain goes to the polls Thursday in the closest general election for a generation -- but voters may have to wait days for a new government as politicians battle to take power.
The election looks set to deliver a minority government for the first time since 1974 but could also push Britain closer to leaving the European Union and hasten Scottish independence.
Prime Minister David Cameron's centre-right Conservatives, who have led a coalition government since 2010, are fighting to stay in office but are locked in a dead heat with Ed Miliband's centre-left Labour, according to the final opinion polls before election day.
While the leaders of both main parties insist in public they can win a clear majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, they will almost certainly have to work with smaller parties to form a government.
Who will team up with whom is the biggest question of the election.
"At the moment, I have no idea who will be prime minister a month from now," Peter Kellner, president of polling company YouGov, wrote this week. "No pollster or political soothsayer can guarantee what will happen on Thursday."
AFP
