UK votes as independence debate heats up in Scotland Published on Share British voters went to the polls for “Super Thursday” elections that could reshape the UK as pro-independence forces in Scotland bid to break away, in the first major electoral test since Brexit and the coronavirus crisis. The regional and local elections will test backing for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives after he led Britain out of the EU and through the pandemic, overseeing Europe’s highest death toll but also its fastest vaccine rollout. Polls closed at 2100 GMT. Johnson, who has shrugged off recent scandals, urged high turnout for “a very big day at the polls”.