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UK party leaders cross country in final bid to win votes

Theresa May in London's Smithfield meat market this morning on the final day of campaigning for tomorrow's general election
Theresa May in London's Smithfield meat market this morning on the final day of campaigning for tomorrow's general election

Opinion polls continue to paint a mixed picture as the UK General Election campaign draws to its conclusion.

Leaders of Britain's biggest parties criss-crossed the country today in a whirlwind last-minute bid for votes ahead of tomorrow's general election.

Polls open at 7am and an exit poll after 10pm tomorrow night is expected to give a strong indication of what way voters have decided.

This morning saw British Prime Minister Theresa May campaigning for votes in London's Smithfield meat market, where the prime minister posed for photos with butchers wearing bloodied white coats.

Jeremy Corbyn told a rally of cheering supporters in Glasgow that he was hopeful of a "very historic" Labour majority on Friday.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said a Tory landslide could only be prevented if people voted tactically to minimise Mrs May's majority.


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Mrs May is on course to increase her majority in parliament, opinion polls showed today, suggesting Mrs May's gamble to call a vote to bolster her position in Brexit negotiations will pay off.

The prime minister has seen her once-commanding lead over the Labour Party and its veteran hard-left leader narrow sharply since she surprised almost everyone by calling a snap election in April.

But a final round of opinion polls suggested she would increase the small majority she inherited from David Cameron last year, shortly after the surprise referendum decision to take Britain out of the European Union.

Of five polls published today, two showed the Conservatives widening their lead over Labour, two showed a narrowing and one was unchanged.

But they suggested the Conservatives would increase their majority in parliament.

Polling firm ICM said Conservatives' wide lead of 46% to 34% for Labour would give Mrs May a majority of 96 seats, up sharply from the working majority of 17 she has had until now and bigger than any Conservative majority since the days when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister.

The Independent newspaper said the 44-34 lead for the Conservatives in a poll it commissioned from ComRes would give Mrs May a majority of 74.

YouGov, which found the Conservatives' lead had increased to seven percentage points from four during the weekend, also said  Mrs May would bolster her power in parliament.

"The seven-point Conservative lead is the same as at the previous election, but we think it is likely they will nevertheless be returned with an increased majority," YouGov Director Anthony Wells said.

The polls were conducted after a deadly attack by Islamist militants in London on Saturday.

ICM and ComRes have tended to give the Conservatives bigger leads than other polling firms.

One further poll was expected tonight from Survation which has recently put the Conservatives' lead as narrow as one percentage point.

Investors took the latest findings as a sign Mrs May was likely to emerge victorious tomorrow, bolstering her before Brexit negotiations which are due to start this month.

Sterling rose by nearly half a cent against the US dollar after the ICM poll was published.

Parties in final push for votes

As the parties focused on their core messages to ensure supporters turn out to vote, Labour issued a warning over the future of Britain’s National Health Service, saying that voters had "24 hours to save the NHS".

And Mrs May trumpeted her readiness to tear up human rights laws to tackle terrorism, declaring the choice of prime minister on was between "somebody who has protected national security or somebody who's voted against it".

Mrs May faced heckles from a few Smithfield butchers shouting "vote Labour" as she toured the market ahead of a dash around South East and Midlands constituencies with husband Philip by her side.

As shadow home secretary Diane Abbott remained away from the campaign trail due to illness following a series of poor performances in interviews, Mr Corbyn announced he had asked West Ham MP Lyn Brown to stand in until she is well enough to return.

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn

Mr Corbyn told the Glasgow rally - his 84th of the campaign, with six more to come over the course of today, ending in his Islington North seat - that Mrs May "underestimated the good sense of ordinary people" when she called a snap election in the expectation of a landslide.

He said tomorrow's vote offered a clear choice between "another five years of a Tory government, underfunding of services all across the UK, including here in Scotland, or a Labour government that invests for all, all across Britain".

But Mr Farron urged voters in seats where Liberal Democrats are challengers not to see the election as a two-horse race, but to "lend us their vote so that we can get out there and prevent Theresa May taking the country for granted".

Conservative supporters concerned about Brexit and the so-called "dementia tax" should ditch their traditional loyalties and "vote for someone who will stand up for you and your family instead", he said.

Mrs May - who earlier this morning also visited a bowls club in Labour-held Southampton Test - is highlighting Conservative plans for £23 billion of investment in housing, roads, rail and ultrafast broadband across the UK.

The prime minister claimed that a successful Brexit negotiation would provide opportunities for "more jobs, more homes, better roads and railways, and world-class digital connectivity wherever you live".

But she warned that the consequences of a failed negotiation would be "dire".

Mr Corbyn highlighted Labour's plans to provide £37 billion (€43bn) in additional funding for the NHS over the course of the next parliament, warning the service could not afford another five years of Conservative austerity.

Despite Labour continuing to trail to the Conservatives in the polls - even though the gap has narrowed since the start of the campaign - an upbeat Mr Corbyn insisted they remain on course for victory.

"We can do something very special on Thursday. We can have a future of hope for the many, not the few," he said in an interview with the Daily Mirror.

"We are going to win."