Google marks UK Election Day with its latest Doodle as voters go to the polls

It has been a bruising but short seven-week electoral campaign that comes to its climax on Thursday (8 June) as people in Britain go to the polls for the snap general election.

Google marks the day with its image of the ballot box covered by the Union flag in its search engine.

Theresa May had a clear lead when the starting pistol was fired, and the Conservative Party she led was 11 points ahead in the local elections at the start of May and performed well in a historic byelection victory in Copeland, a Labour seat since before the Second World War.

But U-turns on social care, surrounding the so-called "dementia tax" as well as a perceived lack of deftness and dexterity on the stump have eaten into her lead.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has managed to make inroads and address crowds of adoring supporters, including at her final rally in Islington, north London on Wednesday night.

However, despite the lead of May being halved since the start of the campaign, the latest ComRes poll for the Independent still projects the Tories to win a 74-seat majority, which would be the largest the party has secured since Margaret Thatcher.

The poll published by the Independent puts the Tories at 44%, Labour on 34%, the Liberal Democrats on 9% with Ukip and the Greens on 5% and 2% respectively.

But as all political leaders say, it is the poll on 8 June that counts and people will be able to start casting their votes from 7am until 10pm.

Houghton & Sunderland South has been the first constituency to declare results for the last five elections and is expected to do so before 11pm. Meanwhile, St Ives, in Cornwall, is traditionally the last constituency to declare, and could do it later than midday on Friday (9 June).

There are more than 40,000 polling stations across the country and about 46.9 million people registered to vote for the total of 650 Westminster MPs .