To govern, she will need the support of the socially conservative, pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which won 10 seats in Northern Ireland.
Labour appears to have benefited from the collapse in support for the UK Independence Party (Ukip), whose leader Paul Nuttall has now resigned, picking up nearly as many votes from its former voters as the Conservatives.
Some Conservative MPs also spoke out on Saturday as officials announced that Northern Ireland's DUP had signed up to "an outline agreement" to back a minority Conservative government.
A Number 10 spokesman said: "We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond".
Late on Friday afternoon Mrs May reinstalled the government's five senior cabinet ministers to their existing roles: Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Brexit Secretary David Davis and Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
But with the DUP involvement in propping up Theresa May's government, there's a danger they'll play harder in the Stormont talks, that are due to resume next week.
Theresa May was left eight seats short of an overall majority in the general election this week.
But the strength of that deal looks set to be tested when the Commons meets next week, with Jeremy Corbyn vowing to try to bring down the Government by defeating Mrs May in Parliament and insisting: "I can still be prime minister".
The DUP campaigned for Brexit, but its manifesto argues for maintaining a "seamless and frictionless" border with Ireland.
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The results of the UK's general election are in. but there wasn't a clear victor. The DUP counts creationists among its senior members, with former health minister Edwin Poots believing the Earth was created 4,000 years ago, according to ITV.
May is negotiating a partnership with the Northern Irish party after failing to secure a majority in this week's election.
But another prominent internal critic, former education secretary Nicky Morgan, said Mrs May should "carry on" and was "entitled" to see whether she can form an administration.
The party's continued opposition to marriage equality comes despite reports that 68% of Northern Ireland's population support it, and calls from Amnesty International for them to "reflect the will of the people".
May confirmed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call that Britain was ready to begin Brexit negotiations "as planned in the next couple of weeks", reassuring European Union leaders who had expressed doubts after her heavy electoral losses.
On Brexit, the DUP supports leaving the European Union but opposes a return to a "hard" border with Ireland - which could happen if May carries through her threat to walk away from the talks rather than accept a "bad deal".
Much focus will now fall upon the party's leader Arlene Foster, a tough character whose politics were influenced by the Troubles.
She said despite losing a dozen MPs in the June 8 poll, she meant to press ahead with her plans to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union and forge a new trade deal with its former partners.
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