Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble of increasing her majority in order to have a stronger hand in Brexit has not paid off; instead, it backfired horribly and now threatens to destabilize her government in the face of the upcoming Brexit talks with the European Union on June 19.
Theresa May and Boris Johnson at the first Cabinet meeting after the United Kingdom election.
With British politics thrust into the deepest turmoil since last June's shock Brexit vote, European Union leaders were left wondering how the divorce talks would open next week. The DUP won 10 seats and is now the Prime Minister's only hope of retaining control in Parliament.
If she fails at the meeting to reassure lawmakers that she can govern effectively however her critics are likely to step up calls for her to go. Despite anger at the election, she was cheered briefly at the start of the meeting.
She told a meeting of backbenchers that she had got the party into "this mess" by calling the snap election and now "I'll get us out of it".
"The parliamentary arithmetic is such that we are going to have to work with everyone", he said.
But party members said she would still have to prove she understands that while she may have the will to continue on as normal with her Brexit plans, she no longer has the votes.
The EU's Brexit chief met British officials on Monday to try to hammer out a date for the start of formal talks, as concerns grew that negotiations could be delayed by the fallout from Britain's chaotic election.
Today, Labour Centrists said they would be willing to put the crisis above divisions by co-operating for a softer Brexit, which could include membership of the single market or the customs union.
Former finance minister George Osborne, who May sacked after taking office following the Brexit vote last June, yesterday said May was now a "dead woman walking".
In a measure of just how confused, Springford said he could see the results pushing in either direction - toward "a chaotic, hard Brexit because they can't reach a deal", or toward a much less severe break "because the soft Brexiteers are emboldened".
Without a so-called confidence and supply deal with the DUP, her party risks losing the vote next week on the Queen's Speech, which lays out the agenda for the government.
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Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds speak to the media at Stormont Castle ahead of talks aimed at restoring powersharing in Northern Ireland, in in Belfast, Monday, June 12, 2017.
It comes after Jonathan Powell, a key adviser to Tony Blair when he brokered peace in Northern Ireland, said: "Even John Major didn't resort to relying on DUP..."
Davis, who said that some policies in the government's programme would now be pruned back, was one of a number of senior Conservatives to publicly pledge loyalty to May.
She told Conservative lawmakers that she takes full responsibility for the disastrous result, which cost the party its majority, and will stay on only for as long as she's wanted.
However, there is no agreement about when she should stand down, and Tory MPs are concerned that if she does so now, there will be pressure for a second election after a leadership contest - since the victor will have no mandate to govern as Prime Minister (or so it will be argued).
It was a surprise move - Gove was sacked as justice minister by May a year ago after his bid to become party leader forced now-foreign minister Boris Johnson from the race, amid accusations of treachery and political backstabbing.
At the meeting with lawmakers in Parliament, May recognised that a broader consensus needed to be built for Brexit and made clear that she would listen to all wings of the party on the issue.
The Conservatives' past divisions over Europe could flare up again in the fall-out from the general election.
"It's an open question as to what we can get".
He told ITV that he is an "unswerving supporter" of Mrs May, and that there is a distinction between "running a campaign and running a country".
"My judgment is that they are fed up to the back teeth with all this".
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