Polling begins in Britain elections, Labour's Miliband casts his vote

London: Polls have opened in Britain’s national election, a contest that is expected to produce an ambiguous result, a period of frantic political horse-trading and a bout of national soul-searching. Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and Ed Miliband’s Labour Party are running neck-and-neck, and neither looks able to win a majority of Parliament’s 650 seats. Many voters are turning elsewhere — chiefly to the separatist Scottish National Party, which will dominate north of the border, and the anti-immigrant U.K. Independence Party. UKIP is third in opinion polls but Britain’s electoral system means it can win at most a handful of seats. If no party wins outright, it may take days or weeks of negotiation to forge a workable government. Polls are open Thursday from 1130 IST until 0230 IST. Labour leader Ed Miliband has already cast his vote. He voted along with his wife, Justine, in the northern town of Doncaster, on Thursday morning. Miliband has represented the constituency of Doncaster North in Parliament for the past 10 years. Miliband is the only politician with a realistic chance of taking the post of prime minister away from David Cameron, but neither of their parties is expected to achieve an overall majority in Parliament. UK Independence Leader Nigel Farage also voted early in the eastern constituency of South Thanet, and then tweeted: “I can’t tell you who I voted for!” AP