After six weeks of campaigning and debate, people cast their votes at around 50,000 polling stations yesterday in a keenly contested election described as ‘’most uncertain general election for decades.’’

A total of 650 parliamentary seats are up for grabs, 9,000 council seats are also being contested in 279 English local authorities (but not in London) while six mayors will be elected in Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and Torbay, and 50,000 plus polling stations were open across the UK.

Polls close at 22:00 BST with results from the first constituencies expected before midnight and the final result due on Friday afternoon.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Labour leader Ed Miliband, Greens leader Natalie Bennett, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Conservative leader David Cameron, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood all cast their votes.

In Northern Ireland, DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness in Northern Ireland voted yesterday, as did SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell, Alliance Party leader David Ford and Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt.

The polls closed at 10pm, a time which could indicate who was likely going to win, and when to watch for the big names that could lose their seats.

There were reports of heavy turnout of voters across many polling units, with the polling booths very busy in Hornsey and Wood Green Library marginal Station.

Students, many of whom are first-time voters, were seen sharing pictures of themselves outside polling stations or holding their poll cards, with the hashtag #GenerationVote.

From handing out yellow stickers, to wristbands, and wearing “are you registered to vote?” to shirts, the National Union of Students (NUS) has been part of a drive to get more students to vote, especially as only 44 per cent of 18-24 year olds voted in 2010.

Research from Mencap found 17 per cent of people with learning disabilities were turned away from voting at the 2014 local elections, so campaigns are being held across the country to ensure those who need it are supported to vote.

Despite the torrential rain, the Liberal Democrat leader spent the day knocking on doors in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam, trying to get every last voter out to the polling booth to put a cross next to his name.

There was a hitch in the election when UKIP David Hodgson’s name failed to appear on papers in one polling station in Darlington, a spokesman for Darlington Borough Council said.

Voters have been calling for a re-run of the election in a marginal seat where he was left off almost 100 ballot papers.

However, the council is continuing to run the election as normal.

A statement said: “A spokesperson for Darlington Borough Council said that voting in the general and local elections was continuing as normal in Darlington, but that the name of one candidate, David Hodgson (UKIP), had been missed off ballot papers issued to one polling station in the borough.

“The election is said to be incredibly tight, and all forecasters expect that no one party will get the 326 seats they need to have a majority in our 650-seat Parliament – a result known as a “hung parliament.”