May fights to hang on as vote gamble fails

The single reason Mrs May said she called the election was to strengthen her position in negotiating a good Brexit deal.

One Conservative MP, Heidi Allen, predicted she would be gone in six months.

Mr Corbyn, whose Labour party won 262 seats in the election, told the Sunday Mirror he would oppose the Queen's Speech all the way. May's party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority.

The DUP is expected to consider a confidence and supply arrangement with the Conservative party rather than a formal coalition.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Brexit Secretary David Davis have all been kept on in their roles.

In a statement outside Downing Street, the 60-year-old premier promised to "fulfil the promise of Brexit".

"It is clear that only the Conservative and Unionist Party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that", she claimed. He said, "If we go the Theresa May route, we're going to end up with deeper cuts in public services".

But European Council President Donald Tusk warned there was "no time to lose" in starting the negotiations. The talks so far have been positive. It should have been a slam dunk for May, whose Conservative Party was 20 points ahead in the opinion polls, and who needed a stronger hand to push through the hard realities of "Brexit", the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, which passed by a razor-thin voter margin previous year.

Diplomatic veterans say the Brexit process is as titanic in scale as it is historically unprecedented. Odds are decent the current PM exits 10 Downing Street before Britain exits Europe. The people know this, and it's time for politicians to respect that understanding and talk about this problem in a rational manner. "Do your best to avoid a "no deal" as result of "no negotiations". In the run-up to the election, The Loyalist magazine - linked to the Ulster Political Research Group, an advisory body connected to the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association - called on its readers to support the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly and Nigel Dodds.

But she came under fire for a lacklustre, soundbite-driven performance on the campaign trail and a damaging U-turn on healthcare policy. During the campaign, she said she prided herself on sometimes being a "bloody hard woman".

Every extra vote for Jeremy Corbyn was a disaster for Blair and Mandelson.

"At such a critical time, the Prime Minister must be clear with the people about the deal she has stitched up with the DUP behind closed doors".

"She's staying, for now", the source told Reuters.

The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling newspaper, simply said "Mayhem" on its front page. Theresa May was looking for confirmation of her mandate. And the fact that Labour has increased its share of the vote has increased its number of seats by 30, and including, within the last hour or so, the constituency of Kensington and Chelsea, which has always been conservative.

Concerns now hover around the stability of the government that will be formed, given the minority status of the Conservative Party. There was a surge of people registering to vote on the deadline day at the last minute, and turnout was significantly higher in towns that had a greater proportion of 18- to 34-year-olds.

Thursday's United Kingdom general election saw the Conservatives lose more seats than expected in Parliament, while the Labour gained more seats than expected.

"I am sorry for those candidates and hard-working party workers who weren't successful but also particularly sorry for those colleagues who were MPs or ministers who had contributed so much to our country and who lost their seats and didn't deserve to lose their seats". He invited her to visit France at the earliest opportunity.