'Dead Woman Walking': Amid Election Fallout, Theresa May Stands On Shaky Ground

Jeremy Corbyn has drawn level with Theresa May in a poll asking who would be the best Prime Minister.

The premier was unable to carry out the wholesale changes to her government about which there was speculation ahead of Thursday's election after losing her majority in the House of Commons.

The Conservatives are known for their ruthless leadership campaigns and it was only past year that Johnson and former Justice Secretary Michael Gove vied for power in a bitter battle.

"If we're going to have a leadership contest in the Conservative Party what we can not do is have another coronation", she said, referring to May's leadership, which was not put to the members of the Conservative Party and instead was only voted on by the party's lawmakers.

Former Finance Minister George Osborne, a rival who was sidelined by May a year ago when she took over from David Cameron, told the BBC: "Theresa May is a dead woman walking".

Chancellor Philip Hammond, meanwhile, is reported to have told the Prime Minister that she needed to put "jobs first" in negotiating a new deal with Brussels, in comments seen as a coded attack on her focus on controlling immigration. "It's just how long she's going to remain on death row".

The right-wing British press speculated Sunday that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a former journalist and the former Mayor of London, was plotting a leadership coup. Labour surpassed expectations by winning 262.

May's room for maneuver has been eroded by the election drubbing which saw the Conservatives lose their majority in Parliament, and she has kept many ministers in their jobs. Corbyn said his party would put down a "substantial amendment to the Queen's speech" based on the main policies in its general election manifesto, with an emphasis on Brexit, young people, and austerity.

Exit talks with the European Union are scheduled to start a week tomorrow, but have now been thrown into chaos after the Tories' shock failure to secure a majority.

Some say her failure means the government must now take a more flexible approach to the divorce, potentially softening the exit terms.

She said Brexit talks would begin on June 19 as scheduled, the same day as the formal reopening of parliament.

May has spoken to Northern Ireland's tiny Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) with whom the prime minister is trying to craft an agreement, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. One is for us to get on, in what I think is the responsible way, and try to form a government and try to offer the right kind of responsible leadership that the country needs.

There have also been concerns that joining forces with the hardline Protestant party threatens London's neutrality in Northern Ireland, which is key to the delicate balance of power in a province once plagued by violence.

Mrs May is hoping to strike a deal with the DUP so she can stay in power, with talks due to take place on Tuesday. This will effectively be a test of confidence in the Conservative government, Theresa May's leadership, and any possible agreement with the DUP.

The outcome leaves May on Saturday battling to unite different factions in her party and reliant on the 10 seats of socially-conservative Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party parliamentarians just nine days before the United Kingdom begins negotiating its departure from the EU. By tradition, defeat on a Queen's Speech vote topples the government. The speech will be followed by several days of debate and a vote.

Fallon said the change in circumstances would require "a more collective approach" in government, but he also said he expected Conservative lawmakers to "rally behind" May when they meet early next week. Without the amendments, he said Labour would try to vote down the speech.

"Mail on Sunday tripe - I am backing Theresa May". "This is still on".