Theresa May has urged voters to “fix their sights on the future” in a last-ditch appeal for support as the polls open today.
Returning to her original campaign message after days of focus on her record as home secretary in the wake of the London Bridge attacks, the prime minister highlighted the “prize ahead if we get Brexit right”.
Her comments came after a frantic final 24 hours of campaigning with the party leaders criss-crossing the country as the finish line approached.
The Tory leader said her ambition was to make Britain the “greatest meritocracy in the world” and a country that “stands tall”.
She added: “I can only build that better country and get the right deal in Brussels with the support of the British people.
“So whoever you have voted for in the past, if that is the future you want, then vote Conservative today and we can all go forward together.”
Mrs May also repeated her pledge to change any laws perceived to get in the way of preventing jihadis waging war on the UK.
But Nicola Sturgeon called on voters to seize the opportunity to reject the Tories’ “extreme and dangerous plans”.
She pointed to the narrowing polls and said it was possible votes in Scotland could be “key to stopping the Tories gaining a majority at all”.
The first minister, who argued a vote for Labour risked letting a Conservative MP in through the back door, added: “People in Scotland should not risk waking up to Tory MPs who can hand Theresa May a majority and then rubberstamp anything she wants.”
She also said Mrs May must be regretting her “arrogant” decision to call a snap election.
In turn, Labour’s Kezia Dugdale accused the SNP leader of wanting a Tory government to deflect from her party’s “appalling record” and said the only way to get a Labour government was to vote Labour.
The Scottish Labour leader added: “In the last few days alone, we have seen missed A&E targets, hundreds of operations cancelled because of pressure on NHS staff and resources, and thousands of patients trapped in hospitals when they are fit to go home.
“That should shame Nicola Sturgeon, but we know that nothing does.”
Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn told a rally in Glasgow he was hopeful of a “very historic” Labour majority, insisting the “good sense of ordinary people” had been “underestimated”.
Labour has consistently trailed the Conservatives in the polls, however, despite eating into the Tory lead since the start of the campaign.
Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron branded Mrs May’s party “hapless and heartless” and encouraged both Tory and Labour supporters worried about her policies to vote tactically.