Already grappling with an existential crisis over Brexit, the United Kingdom woke up Friday to yet another conundrum: How did Prime Minister Theresa May lose an election she didn't even need to hold?
The Conservatives' majority was dashed overnight and the latest forecasts suggest the party will emerge with a total of 318 seats, compared with its former 331.
May faced pressure to resign on Friday after losing her parliamentary majority, plunging the country into uncertainty as Brexit talks loom.
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"Additional sterling weakness will likely be seen as investors digest the implications of a hung parliament".
The EU's chief negotiator said the bloc's stance on Brexit and the timetable for the talks were clear, but the divorce negotiations should only start when Britain is ready. "Now, in 11 days time, Brexit negotiations will start, and our position is significantly weakened".
However, Siegfried Muresan, spokesman for the European Parliament's largest party the EEP underscored that "Article 50 is ticking" and Theresa May "should have used time for negotiations, not for elections".
May's failure to strengthen her grip on power is a huge embarrassment for the leader.
Some political analysts doubt a Conservative minority government with support from the DUP would last over the long term, and think a second election is likely.
European Union budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger said the European Union is prepared to stick to the timetable that calls for negotiations to start in mid-June, but said it would take a few hours at least to see how the results of the election play out in forming a government. "Fact, is this morning she looks bloody weak". As speculation over her future mounted, Mrs May said the country "needs a period of stability", while Tory sources indicated she would continue in Number 10.
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The main damage will have been to U.S. leadership, in the clean energy industry and in the world at large. Trump has said that the United States will no longer take steps to meet, during his administration.
One former head of the civil service, Andrew Turnbull, even went public as the results were coming in to say that she should resign.
Even in strongly pro-Remain Scotland, the SNP shed seats to the Tories, whose campaign exclusively against a second independence referendum paid off; even beleaguered Scottish Labour managed a net gain of five seats.
Labour's vote share is also massively up from the last election in 2015 when the party secured just 30.4 per cent under Ed Miliband.
"Opinion polls correctly predicted that Theresa May's dreams of a decisive mandate were coming unstuck, so while this is an unwelcome result for the markets, it is less of a tectonic shock than that of the Brexit referendum".
She said that the poor showing meant that she would need to "reflect" on voters' appetite for a new referendum. In Kensington, an overwhelmingly Conservative seat - but also overwhelmingly anti-Brexit - the vote was so close that recounting was suspended at 8 a.m. on Friday so that election officials could go home and rest.
In Scotland, the pro-independence Scottish National Party suffered major setbacks.
However, as their MPs don't sit in parliament - they refuse to pledge allegiance to the Queen - their votes are worthless during potential coalition talks. The Conservatives could be forced to compromise to win DUP backing.
Once again, voters succeeding in confounding expectations, delivering surprise victories and resounding losses.
An energising campaign by Labour's firebrand leader Jeremy Corbyn and simmering anger among many voters over uncertain plans to leave the European Union sent young Britons streaming to the ballot box.
The result represents "an quake in Labour politics", political analyst Robin Oakley told CNN. "What's happened is people have said they've had quite enough of austerity politics". She has managed to lose seats like Canterbury which previously had a 10,000 majority.
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