[Vanders9]

Essentially the country is chopped up into 650 areas, called "constituencies". Some effort is put into making sure they are all approximately the same size (in terms of number of voters, geographically they vary wildly) and encompassing similar kinds of industry, economics etc. This is handled by a neutral body called the Electoral commission. In practice it's quite difficult to do because people move around a lot between counts. Anyhoo...each constituency is allowed one representative in Parliament. Anyone can stand, upon being formally entered and seconded, and payment of a deposit (currently set at, I believe, £500 (about $750)). This is refundable if you manage to get a certain percentage of the vote (its quite low - about 5% I think). This is meant to dissuade all but the most dedicated of loonies. The election runs from 7AM to 10PM and its always on a Thursday. Everyone registered in the constituency is allowed to vote, at an assigned polling station near to where they live. The ballot boxes are taken to a central location and counted, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in each constituency is in. An official called the "returning officer" makes a public announcement of the votes cast and announces the winner. Because some of the constituencies are much larger than others, they take longer to get all the votes together. Also the turnout may vary, and if the election is close candidates may call for recounts. You are currently seeing some of the 650 constituencies "declaring".

[Chet 99]

There are also a lot of rotten boroughs in favor of Labour, which is why Tories need a much higher popular vote percentage to get a majority.

[GeronL]

huge turnouts, some places 75%

[goldstategop]

In the UK, they've always used paper ballots. Voters mark an x beside the candidate and although the ballot does not list the party the candidate belongs to, voters are well aware of the candidate in their constituency they intend to vote for well before polling day.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus