London, July 5 : The Labour Party is projected to lead the UK under Keir Starmer with a landslide victory while the Conservative Party was heading towards a devastating defeat, according to the exit poll by three major TV networks.

The exit poll gave the Labour 410 seats, a stunning gain of 209 seats, in Thursday's elections for the House of Commons ending its 14 years in a political wilderness and marking a slide to the centre-left position.

Only 326 seats are needed for a majority in the 650-member House.

The exit poll predicted the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to win 131 seats, losing 241.

The Liberal Democrats, a one-time ally of the Conservatives, came in next in the poll with 61, according to the exit poll.

Starmer, who has the unique credentials of being both a human rights lawyer and high-level prosecutor, led the party on a platform of change -- both for the country and for his Labour Party, moving it away from the hard leftist line that had cost it previous elections towards a more centrist position.

"I've changed the Labour Party," he declared.

His message of change resonated with an electorate facing economic hardships from high inflation compared to 2020 and a deterioration of public services, especially the National Health Service, once the pride of the nation.

"I will fight for working people. And I will fight to restore hope and pride in our great country," he said on the eve of the election.

The exit poll was released within minutes of the close of voting at 10 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. in India) while the official counting was to begin.

This will be the first time King Charles III will be inviting a leader to form the government becoming the prime minister.