By IANS,
London : Voting was under way in Britain Thursday to elect a new government with the leaders of the three main parties casting their ballot before noon.
Polling began across the country at 7 a.m., with voters arriving at nearly 50,000 voting centres.
Leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron, was the first of the main British party leaders to vote at a community hall in Witney, Oxfordshire, shortly after 10.30 a.m, BBC reported.
Around 11 a.m., Labour leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown went to vote at a community centre located close to his home in North Queensferry, Fife.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, went to a polling station in Sheffield Hallam at 11.20 a.m.
Voting closes at 10 p.m. by which time the fate of about 4,150 candidates in the fray will be decided in 649 constituencies.
Election has been postponed to May 27 in Thirsk and Malton constituency where a candidate, John Boakes, died during campaign.
More than 44 million people are eligible to vote. Preliminary results are expected early Friday.
Opinion polls say Britain is headed for a hung parliament.
According to the Electoral Commission, the voter turnout in 1997 was 71.4 percent, 59.54 percent in 2001 and 61.4 percent in the 2005 parliamentary election.