General election 2017: DUP deal 'risks peace process'

It also said Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is pushing her to prioritize jobs and the economy in the Brexit talks.

Earlier on Saturday May lost her two closest aides.

The resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government.

While the to-and-fro between Downing Street and the DUP was unfolding, several British newspapers were reporting that some prominent Conservatives, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit minister David Davis, were being urged by supporters to challenge May for the party leadership.

She put on a fearless face, refusing to show any contrition for the election gamble that spectacularly backfired, but observers say she has been deeply wounded.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is gay, was among the first to express disquiet over a deal with the ultra-conservative DUP.

The UK and Irish governments are now trying to mediate between the DUP and Irish nationalists to restore the Northern Irish government.

Britain's best-selling Sun newspaper said senior members of her party had vowed to get rid of May, but would wait at least six months because they were anxious that a leadership contest now could propel Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into power. She was criticized for refusing to take part in a televised leaders' debate and for carefully controlling her campaign activities to keep the public at arm's length.

This is likely to pose an obstacle to the types of strict border controls advocated by those in the Conservative Party who support a "hard" Brexit. She confirmed this to German leader Angela Merkel in a phone call on Saturday.

The DUP statement put Downing Street on the back foot, prompting a carefully worded response in the early hours of Sunday.

Britain's typically pro-Conservative press savaged May yesterday and questioned whether she could remain in power, only two months after she started the clock ticking on the two-year European Union divorce process.

Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn, who had previously faced calls for his ouster from some of his own MPs, ended up with a better-than-expected result.

"Imagine she survives until autumn of next year", he told Reuters.

May had repeatedly ruled out the need for a new election before changing her mind. She's attempting to form a government.

For the Conservatives to have an overall majority, they are reliant on the support of the ten MPs from Ulster.

The Times newspaper's front page declared that Britain was "effectively leaderless" and the country "all but ungovernable".

"The Conservatives have not yet broken the British system of democracy, but through their hubris and incompetence they have managed to make a mockery of it", it said in an editorial.

If she is to succeed in delivering the wishes of 52 percent of the public and take Britain out of the European Union, she must find a way to secure the full support of her party to pass legislation preparing for and enacting the departure. There's a possibility of voting it down it and we're going to push that all the way. The DUP is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and once appointed an environment minister who believes human-driven climate change is a myth.

Johnson denied the reports as "tripe" and said: "I am backing Theresa May". Davidson also said she had received reassurances from May that the party's deal with the DUP would not involve a rollback of gay rights.