Voters in Northern Ireland and Britain go to the polls today in an election that is likely to decide the political futures of David Trimble and Mark Durkan and give a third Labour victory for prime minister Tony Blair.
Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party are widely expected to make gains in Northern Ireland at the expense of the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP.
Pundits and bookmakers expect the Rev Ian Paisley's DUP to increase its share of Westminster seats from six to perhaps as many as 10, and for the rise of Sinn Féin to continue. Sinn Féin workers believe they can increase their Commons seats from the current four to six.
Both Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble and SDLP leader Mark Durkan are involved in closely fought battles to retain their parties' seats in Upper Bann and Foyle respectively. Mr Trimble has called on electors to vote tactically in an effort to protect the centre ground while the former SDLP leader and outgoing Foyle MP John Hume has warned against the domination of Northern politics by the DUP and Sinn Féin.
Mr Blair's final day of campaigning saw him buoyed by opinion polls suggesting a comfortable victory. The mean of several polls put Labour nine points ahead of the Conservatives at 39 per cent to 30 per cent, with 23 per cent opting for the Liberal Democrats and 8 per cent undecided. One poll, for today's Times of London newspaper, gave Labour a perhaps overly generous 14 per cent lead.
Flanked by chancellor Gordon Brown and surrounded by his entire cabinet, Mr Blair chose Baroness Thatcher's old Finchley constituency for a final round of warnings that a protest vote for the Liberal Democrats risked letting the Conservatives in "by the back door".
Conservative leader Michael Howard, a Liverpool FC supporter, sought inspiration from his team's spirited Champions League semi-final victory over Chelsea.
"My message," he told party activists, "is work hard and believe to the end and we can win like Liverpool did."
Polling stations open at 7am throughout Britain and Northern Ireland and close at 10pm. Some 45 million people - 1.1 million of them in the North, where elections are also taking place for 26 local councils - are eligible to cast their votes for the 646 MPs from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who will comprise the new Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Counting of votes cast in England, Scotland and Wales begins immediately voting ends tonight and will continue into tomorrow morning. Exit polls are expected shortly after 10pm with many constituencies declaring actual results between midnight and 3am. Counting in Northern Ireland begins on tomorrow morning.