What is the exit poll, how accurate is it and have they ever been wrong?

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Votes are being cast in the general election and it won't be long before we know the results. Polling stations opened up at 7am this morning for Brits to cast their ballots and choose who they want to represent them in Parliament.

Each UK constituency will begin the process of counting votes as soon as polling stations close at 10pm. After that, official results will start to trickle in overnight before the final results are declared at around 6am - or perhaps later if there are delays with verification or recounts. READ MORE: Full list of general election results times for every UK constituency While we won't know the final results until the morning, the exit poll, which provides a steer on how the general public voted, has delivered highly accurate projections in recent years.

The exit poll is conducted by surveying voters at polling stations and is the first real indicator of how the public voted. On election day, fieldwork is carried out at around 150 polling stations across the country.

Voters are asked which candidate they selected as they leave the polling station and their answers form the basis of the poll.