LONDON: Britons voted on Thursday in a snap election predicted to give Prime Minister Theresa May a larger parliamentary majority, which she hopes will strengthen her hand in looming divorce talks with the European Union.

A final survey backed other opinion polls in the last 24 hours, suggesting that the Conservatives had widened their lead following a tricky campaign in which their support appeared at times to be ebbing away.

But as many as one in five voters was still undecided this week after a seven-week campaign overshadowed in the later stages by two Islamist attacks that killed 30 people in Manchester and London in less than two weeks.

Most polling stations had increased security as they opened at 0600 GMT, with armed police expected to reinforce regular officers at some locations.

May smiled but did not speak to media as she and her husband Philip voted in the village of Sonning on the River Thames in her Maidenhead constituency.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn grinned broadly and gave the thumbs-up to reporters and party workers as he voted in Islington, north London. “I’m very proud of our campaign,” he said. An Ipsos MORI poll for the London Evening Standard on Thursday put the Conservatives on 44 percent and Labour on 36 percent, a wider lead than a week ago but one which would not give the landslide win foreseen when May called the election seven weeks ago.

“The Conservatives had a wobble last week, but have regained a clear lead in the last few days,” said Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos MORI.

Headline rates for sterling, hit two-week highs in morning trade in London after the latest polls before later slipping back on concern the election was too close to call.

Market bets on how volatile the pound will be over the next 24 hours surged to their highest in a year.

“The market has not bet everything on having a nice clear outcome - it knows we might get a surprise,” said Societe Generale chief macro strategist Kit Juckes.

“The only outcome that’s got enough clarity to get short-covering is a bigger Conservative majority.” Voting ends at 2100 GMT and an exit poll will be issued then. The first handful of seat results are expected to be announced by 2300 GMT, with the vast majority of the 650 constituencies due to announce results on Friday morning.

Both main parties were on the defensive after Saturday’s van and knife attack in the heart of London. May faced questions over cuts in the number of police officers during her six years as interior minister and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn drew criticism for, among other things, voting against some counter-terrorism legislation.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2017