Elderly voters were left in tears after being turned away at local election polling stations because they did not have the correct ID.
New rules requiring people to show a valid form of photo ID caused chaos at many polls as many people either got tangled up in a red-tape nightmare.
Problems began shortly after polls opened on Thursday morning.
Lib Dem MP Layla Moran said: “We’ve had reports by our tellers of people being turned away at polling stations for lack of correct ID.
“That’s just in my constituency so far. Across the country, I’m worried this will be significant numbers and far more than the exactly 0 people found guilty of fraud last year.”
READ MORE: Curtice reveals exact lead Labour need to be on course for No10
The Conservatives face a fight on two fronts: with the main opposition Labour Party – who lead by about 15 points in national polling – seeking to reclaim seats in the so-called Red Wall areas in north and central England, and the Liberal Democrats attempting to make gains in the south.
Tory chairman Greg Hands said his party could lose about 1,000 seats, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Conservatives should be making gains because of their previous poor performance.
The last time most of these seats in England were contested was in 2019 when the Conservatives fared poorly, losing over 1,000 seats as smaller parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Greens made gains.
Then-Prime Minister Theresa May announced her resignation later that month.
Anthony Wells, head of European Political and Social Research at YouGov, said that looking at the vote share might be a more useful indicator than which seats change hands.
“Labour are unlikely to get a lead that is as large as national polls, because the Lib Dems and Greens and smaller parties inevitably do better at local elections than they do at national elections,” he said.
“But if (Labour) want to be on course to win the next election, they should be hoping to get a lead in national vote share of 10 points or so.”
It may only be possible to assess what the results mean for the main political parties by Friday afternoon because many councils are not counting the ballots overnight.
