Ex-pats and British subjects pay close attention on Election Day.

Despite the fact that the results were far off—California polls would be open for another eight hours—more than 800 people jammed the halls of the Montague Bar, near Leicester Square in London, England, to watch election results on Tuesday night.

“We are brought together by common destiny, and this is not a private matter,” explained party co-producer Mark Littlewood, as he looked upon the large shoulder-to-shoulder crowd. “This election is more important to the future of the UK than our own election.”

London is a city of 7.2 million people, with an estimated 170,000 ex-patriots from the US living in its midst. The young crowd at ElectionPartyUK was estimated by Littlewood to be split 50-50 Americans and Brits. It was expected to be the largest public election party in the UK.

The giant TV screen was more than 20 feet wide, conversation was loud, and the crowd so exuberant that it was nearly impossible for anyone to hear the newscasters. But these conditions didn’t disappoint, and the party was expected to go until 3am, with both the beer taps and CNN flowing.

Littlewood, a Brit, confessed he was a Bush supporter. His co-producer, an American citizen named Cassandra Pittman, rolled her eyes and said she was a Democrat who got to vote for Kerry, emphasizing she cast her vote in Florida.

A mock election in the bar proved John Kerry a landslide winner for this UK event, with the Dem winning 77 percent of the votes.

This would be the first presidential vote for both 20-year old David Conroy, of Albany, New York, and 21-year old Ellen Scagno, of Great Falls, Virginia, and John Kerry was their man.

As a student spending the year abroad, Conroy felt the “lost bunch of explosives in Iraq was proof enough that Bush had to go.” Conroy’s spiked hair might lead some to believe he’s a next generation British punk rocker. But he confirmed that if there were a draft, he would serve.

“I’m an American and as long as I want to remain an American, I would go—to Afghanistan, but not Iraq.”

Conroy and Scagno are in London at American Intercontinental University. Scagno was eager to point out that wherever they go in England, the Brits are quick to engage in conversation about Bush and the election. Scagno’s friend from New Jersey, Maggie Gerry, said she knew why: “Bush’s foreign policy sucks.”

When the first votes were posted on CNN, showing Kerry ahead in Ohio, the crowd roared with its approval. The fact that only 2 percent of the vote had been counted didn’t seem to matter. It would be a long and boisterous night in London, and these partygoers would depart without knowing the final outcome, after much consumed.

Bradley Zeve, founder and CEO of Monterey County Weekly, is on an extended working vacation with his family in London.