Scotland to play key role in British general election

Voting for Britain's "most unpredictable" general election started early Thursday amid the surge of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and possible prospects of a hung parliament.

From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. British Summer Time (from 0600 to 2100 GMT), Britain's 48 million voters were expected to cast ballots at 650 parliamentary constituencies across the country, including 533 in England, 59 in Scotland, 40 in Wales, and 18 in Northern Ireland.

It was foreseen at the outset that Scotland would play a major part in this election, but few predicted it would become the defining topic, said an editorial on Wednesday's Scotsman newspaper with the title "No easy choices after this roller coaster campaign."

"According to the polls - and it seems hard to think they can all be hugely wrong - the SNP will see a meteoric rise in the number of MPs (members of parliament) they send to Westminster. Cautious estimates give them 40, and there is talks of all of Scotland's 59 seats being taken by the Nationalists," it noted.

The surge of the SNP, which stands above all to end austerity, is seen as a rout for the Scottish Labor that currently holds 41 seats at Westminster against SNP's six.

Scottish Labor leader Jim Murphy claimed that a vote for any party other than his own would make five more years of Conservative rule more likely.

The SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said electing a strong group of SNP MPs to Westminster will give Scotland potentially unprecedented power and influence there, eyeing a "progressive policy alliance" and "a strong voice" for Scotland.

"To ignore Scottish voices would be wrong," said Sturgeon, terming a Westminster Parliament of minorities, liberated from the rigid two or three party system, as "a better, more representative parliament -- leading to better government for every part of the U.K."

Neither British Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives nor Ed Miliband's opposition Labor Party will win enough seats for an outright majority of 326 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, according to foregone poll results.

However, Cameron insisted an outright Tory majority was "within reach" and that only his Conservatives could deliver a strong, stable government.

He promised to focus on jobs and economic recovery, reduce income tax for 30 million people and eliminate a budget deficit at 5 percent of gross domestic product with further spending cuts.

"All other options will end in chaos," he noted, warning of a "frightening prospect" of a Labor government relying on SNP votes.

The Labor Party pledged a strong economic foundation, higher living standards for working families and support for the national health service, among others.

An exit poll will be published as soon as polls close, and most results are expected in the early hours of Friday.

The structure of the future British government can not be predicted yet, may it be a second term for Cameron in coalition with Liberal Democrats and other minor parties, or a fragile minority government making trade-offs to guarantee support on key votes.

The make-up of the last parliament was Conservative 302, its coalition partner Liberal Democrats 56, Labor 256, others 36.

In the last general election in 2010 with a turnout of 65.1 percent, the conservatives won 306 seats, the Liberal Democrats 57, the Labors 258, others 29. Enditem