NICOLA Sturgeon insisted she was “feeling good” yesterday morning as she cast her vote at a city nursery.

Sturgeon and husband Peter Murrell, chief executive of the SNP, braved the rain to attend the Enchanted Tree Nursery in Glasgow, one of the many school sites used as polling stations as the country returned to the polls just two years since the last general election and only five weeks after the council contest.

The SNP captured a landslide 56 of 59 Scots constituencies in 2015 and increased their number of council seats to 431 council seats last month.

Despite predictions of major losses running in the press, the First Minister said she remained confident, telling reporters: “I’m feeling good.

“We’re focused today on getting out the vote.

“Voting SNP is the only way to ensure strong voices for Scotland, so I’m feeling good and hoping the weather improves as well.”

Marking her cross at the Cafe Comino polling station in Edinburgh, Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson was hoping to taste victory and grow her party’s Westminster team.

The Scottish Conservatives made significant gains at the council vote, with several candidates elected in areas that once been thought impossible for them to win, including Paisley North West, where John McIntyre was returned at the tenth round of asking.

Davidson turned out to vote with her partner Jen Wilson and dog Wilson, with Conservative hopes high for gains in the Borders and north east Scotland, including Moray, long-held by SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson.

Asked how she was feeling, Davidson said she “always gets nervous on election days”, adding: “I hope everyone gets out and votes.”

Meanwhile, with hopes of a Labour resurgence running high thanks to improving poll results for Jeremy Corbyn, the party’s Scottish leader Kezia Dugdale gave the thumbs-up as she cast her vote at Wilson Memorial Church in Edinburgh.

Labour entered the contest aiming to hold on to its sole Scottish seat, won by Ian Murray in Edinburgh South in 2015, but was now hoping to claw back some of those it lost then, such as East Lothian.

Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie – one of his party’s three Westminster candidates – pedalled his way to the polls in Glasgow, greeting assembled press on a bicycle.

The MSP threw his hat into the ring in Glasgow North after finishing second place in the parallel seat of Glasgow Kelvin at the Holyrood election last year.

And LibDem leader Willie Rennie voted in Kelty, Fife, as his party aimed for victory in areas including East Dunbartonshire and Edinburgh West.

Most polling stations across the UK were set up in schools, community halls and churches.

However, ballot boxes were installed at a gym in Liverpool, one of the more unusual locations used by officials.

Additional security was provided at some sites in response to the recent terror attacks.

Facing her first ballot as Prime Minister, Theresa May greeted members of the press with an upbeat “hello” as she arrived to cast her vote in a guide and scout hut on the outskirts of Maidenhead with husband Philip.

May called the snap General Election in April as she sought to strengthen her hand ahead of Brexit negotiations.

A Tory landslide was predicted from the outset, but the campaign has been far from easy for the UK’s second female PM, with a u-turn over the so-called “dementia tax”, outcry over plans for English schools and condemnation of police cuts made during her time as Home Secretary.

This came in the wake of terror attacks in Manchester and London.

May has also faced criticism for her refusal to participate in head-to-head TV debates and over the stage management of rallies, where journalists were prevented from asking questions.

Smiling and waving at a school in Islington, her main rival Jeremy Corbyn told the waiting press: “Thank you very much, all of you, for coming here today. It’s a day of our democracy. “ He went on: “I’ve just voted. I’m very proud of our campaign.”

Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, where the public has voted seven times in just three years, Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionists, voted near her home in Co Fermanagh, while Sinn Fein’s Stormont head Michelle O’Neill marked her ballot paper close in Co Tyrone.

Yesterday’s poll came just three months after the snap Assembly election triggered by the collapse of powersharing and election fatigue has been one of the explanations offered for what was a low-key campaign in the region.”

Foster tweeted: “Make sure you vote today to ensure NI has a strong team of MPs standing up for you,” Mrs Foster tweeted. Wishing my DUP colleagues well.”

Outside the polling station, O’Neill said she was confident Sinn Fein could build on the momentum of its successful Assembly election in March.

She added: “This is a chance for the electorate to come out and take a stand against Tory cuts and Brexit.

“The public are angry. They want to come out and take a stand.”