If the polls are right, Mr Blair is poised to achieve what no Labour premier has managed before - two full successive terms in power and might even increase the 179 majority he enjoyed in the last parliament.
Bright sunshine has brought out the voters in England. In Northern Ireland they streamed into polling stations in a ballot pivotal to peace-building, but in Scotland scattered summer showers put a dampener on the turnout.
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Mr William Hague and
his wife after casting their votes. |
On expectations of a big Mr Blair win, the pound languished after falling to 15-year lows against the dollar and three-week lows against the euro in London.
Analysts said the currency was suffering from fears that a hefty Labour majority would prompt the government to hold an early referendum on joining the euro. Sterling needs to join the euro, the currency of its main trading partners, at lower levels, to ensure competitiveness for Britain's exporters.
Mr Blair walked across a field speckled with buttercups and daisies from his Victorian house in the mining village of Trimdon Colliery in Durham to cast his vote.