The Conservatives have taken a seven-point lead over Labour as voters head to the polls, according to the final UK survey of the general election campaign.
If borne out by votes, it means Theresa May can expect to return to Downing Street tomorrow with a majority of about 50 seats, up from 17.
The final YouGov poll for The Times shows support for Labour dipped on the eve of the election. It puts the Tories on 42 per cent, unchanged since Friday, Labour on 35 per cent, down three points, the Liberal Democrats on 10 per cent, up one, and Ukip on 5 per cent, up one. This would give the Conservatives a majority of 48 if the swing is replicated evenly across the country.
Sources from the two main parties believe that the Tories will do better than this, with both suggesting a majority in excess of 80 seats or even three figures. An ICM poll for The Guardian gave Mrs May a 12-point lead yesterday, translating to a 96-seat majority.
In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon is on course to lose a dozen SNP MPs, according to the final Scottish opinion poll of the campaign.
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The Panelbase poll for The Times has the SNP at 41 per cent, a drop of one point over the course of a week. This would give the party 44 of Scotland’s 59 seats — a comfortable win but 12 seats down from the 56 won in 2015.
All the Unionist parties are expected to make gains at the SNP’s expense, with the Conservatives, on 30 per cent, poised to reap the biggest success, picking up nine new seats and hanging on to the one they won in 2015.
Labour would pick up two seats in Scotland, with 22 per cent of the vote, and the Liberal Democrats would win three seats, on five per cent of the vote.
The prime minister called the election on April 18 hoping for a strong mandate for Brexit on a promise of offering strong and stable leadership, highlighting the contrast with her Labour rival, Jeremy Corbyn. She began the campaign with a 24-point poll lead.
The campaign was halted twice by terrorist attacks on Manchester and London, while unhappiness with the Conservatives’ manifesto policy on social care forced the first significant campaign U-turn by a party leader in modern election history.
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Mrs May’s personal ratings have declined sharply during the campaign and the YouGov poll last night found that 43 per cent wanted Mrs May as prime minister while 32 per cent wanted Mr Corbyn. This 11-point personal advantage is down from a 39-point lead at the campaign start.
The terrorist attacks have pushed the importance of defence and security up the election agenda, with voters saying the issue is second behind Brexit.
The public back Mrs May to make the right decision to keep Britain safe from terrorism over Mr Corbyn, but by a reduced margin from three weeks ago. A clear majority also think the security services and police should be given greater powers.
At the close of a campaign heavily based on her leadership, Mrs May gathered her cabinet in Birmingham for her final election rally. Her concluding pitch distilled the message aimed at former Labour supporters who voted Leave in last year’s EU referendum, who she needs to deliver her hopes of a large Commons majority.
She said that she would “put the voices and interests of ordinary working people at the heart of everything we do” and use Brexit to build a fairer, richer country. “Today is a day for everybody across the country to fix their sights on the future and vote for a better future of fairness, security and opportunity for all,” she said.
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For his part, the Labour leader, returning to his Islington constituency, used his final address to lay claim to a “new centre ground” and said that his campaign had already “changed the face of British politics”.
“As we prepare for government, we have already changed the debate and given people hope. Hope that it doesn’t have to be like this; that inequality can be tackled; that austerity can be ended; that you can stand up to the elites and the cynics.”
At a rally in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said that Mrs May must be regretting her “arrogant” decision to call a snap general election believing she would “cruise to a landslide victory”.
The first minister said: “It seems like a long time ago, does it not, that Theresa May stood on the steps of Downing Street and called this unnecessary election. She arrogantly thought that all she had to do in this campaign was say ‘strong and stable’ over and over again and that she would steamroller everyone aside, crush the opposition and cruise to a landslide victory. Well, I bet that she’s regretting that now.”
She accused Mrs May of being “weak and evasive”, and appealed to Labour and Lib Dem voters to reject the Conservatives by turning to the SNP.