London: Polls opened in Britain on Thursday in an election Prime Minister Theresa May had expected to win easily but one that has proved increasingly hard to predict after a campaign shadowed by terrorism.

Polling stations across the country opened at 7.00am (0600GMT) and will close at 10.00pm, with voters set to choose between May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has seen his huge polling deficit close dramatically in recent weeks.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected, with about 46.9 million people registered to vote.

Some votes have already been cast, through postal voting.

The final results will be declared on Friday afternoon.

Officially, a party must win 326 seats to secure an overall majority in the House of Commons.

Corbyn attended six rallies on the final day of a hard-fought campaign, starting at Glasgow at 8 a.m. and ending in his own patch of Islington with a speech at 9 p.m., where he claimed that Labour’s anti-austerity message was the ‘new centre ground’ of British politics.

Prime Minister Theresa May said on the eve of voting that she was ‘feeling good’ and used her final push to pitch for what she termed as ‘fiercely patriotic’ voters across Labour Party strongholds — the West Midlands, Yorkshire and the north-east, reports the Guardian.

May also stressed to voters that there were only 11 days until the Brexit negotiations start, saying the ‘final’ choice was between her or Corbyn.