Theresa May has confirmed she plans to stay on as Britain's prime minister to provide certainty to the country, with support from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.
After her disastrous miscalculation to call a snap election, the Prime Minister was left critically weakened just ten days before Brexit negotiations are due to begin with Europe's leaders.
"Clearly if she's got a worse result than two years ago and is nearly unable to form a government, then she, I doubt, will survive in the long term as Conservative Party leader", he said on ITV.
May is now seeking to form a government with the Democratic Unionist Party, in which case, the existing politics of Brexit - emphasis on immigration control and the end of single market membership - are likely to continue, and could be exacerbated.
Just after noon, she was driven the short distance from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth for permission to form a government - a formality under the British system.The pound hit an eight-week low against the dollar and its lowest levels in seven months versus the euro before recovering slightly on news she would form a DUP-backed government. Therefore, the result could be interpreted as a rejection of May's vision of Brexit - and Britain could now rethink its opening negotiating position.
" It is very early to tell but it indicates that Jeremy Corbyn strategy- which is to mobilize his base, to inspire young people, to inspire people who haven't voted before- seems to have done the trick", Tim Bale, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary University of London, tells TIME.
"This is a very bad moment for the Conservative Party, and we need to take stock", Conservative lawmaker Anna Soubry said.
A few minutes later, Theresa May delivered her own speech in which she said that Conservatives remain the largest party with majority votes saying, "it will be incumbent on us to ensure that we have that period of stability, and that is what we will do" as "the country needs a period of stability".
"The idea that the British Government could be taking sides having been the guarantor of the Good Friday agreement and the subsequent peace agreements, I think is really troubling".
Sinn Fein leader says DUP-Tory deal will 'end in tears'
Beaten candidate Mark Durkan apologised to Mr Hume in an emotional speech but insisted the party still had a future. He credited Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with fighting a good campaign despite "media bias".
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listens as the declaration at her constituency is made for in the general election in Maidenhead, England, Friday, June 9, 2017.
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said: "I joined a party that introduced equal marriage, backs civil rights and defends freedom of faith".
Discussions were held between May's Conservatives and the DUP over the weekend with a view to the Northern Irish party supporting May's minority government on key votes in parliament. And she wanted a referendum held as soon as Britain agreed to a deal with the European Union, so that Scots could decide whether to remain in the United Kingdom under those terms.
May's focal campaign message was her "strong and stable" leadership that would take Britain through divorce proceedings with Brussels. Corbyn's Labour Party now has 261 seats.
Damian Green, a lawmaker in the pro-EU wing of the party, was promoted to first secretary of state - effectively deputy prime minister.
The losses complicate the SNP's plans to push for a new referendum on Scottish independence as Britain prepares to leave the EU.
"As I reflect on the results I will reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward", May said yesterday in a televised statement.
Exit polls and early election returns indicate Ms. As the polls suggested a tightening race, pollsters spoke less often of a landslide and raised the possibility that May's majority would be eroded. Corbyn accused the Conservatives of undermining Britain's security by cutting the number of police on the streets.
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a pop concert in Manchester on May 22, killing 22 people. "I expect more uncertainty now".
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