British Election Ends With A Hung Parliament

Among conservatives there was clear fury at the result, a seismic political shock that could trigger a second election within months.

"Whatever happens Theresa May is toast - it is just a matter of time", Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said.

Yet with calls for her resignation already coming from her Tory party, it's far from clear whether she will be able to hold on and lead the United Kingdom into talks with the European Union that will determine the country's future prosperity. But EU Council President Donald Tusk said: "We know when they must end".

Labour had 262, up from 229, and the Scottish National Party 35, a loss of about 20 seats that complicates the party's plans to push for independence.

In the aftermath of one of the most sensational nights in British electoral history, politicians and commentators called May's decision to hold the election a colossal mistake and derided her performance on the campaign trail.

So, the fate of this hung parliament has a lot to do with the future course of EUFN (read: UK Votes for Brexit: ETFs Winners & Losers ). Labour's increase in seats from 229 to 261 - with one seat still undecided - confounded expectations that his left-wing views made him electorally toxic.

One of the European Union's top politicians has warned the United Kingdom against delaying Brexit negotiations and risking leaving without a deal in place as a result.

"I thought surrealism was a Belgian invention", quipped Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister.

May said the Conservative party and the DUP will work together, having "enjoyed a strong relationship over many years".

However, if no party manages to form a coalition, a minority government could be formed, but will struggle to pass laws in the parliament. It is inevitable now that with a reduced majority she will have to compromise her aims in order to get support from the other parties.

Had the Conservatives seized five seats including Dudley North, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Crew and Nantwich and Canterbury from Labour - seats where Mr Corbyn's party won by a small margin - Theresa May would have gone into Brexit negotiations with a majority in the Commons. Continuous opposition from members of the House of Lords on Brexit negotiations led Theresa May to take this step.

"This will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful Brexit deal that works for everyone in this country, securing a new partnership with the European Union which guarantees our long term prosperity".

Her predecessor, David Cameron, first asked British voters to decide in 2016 whether to leave the EU.

"This is not an election campaign which has healed divisions across the country in the way it needed to", Nicky Morgan, a Tory former education secretary, said in a text message. The opposite happened as she lost her majority and undermined her own authority as prime minister. Agreeing on science spending becomes more important when governing is reliant on collaboration and cross-party consensus, says Graeme Reid, a science-policy researcher at University College London.

Initially blind-sided by May's snap election call, and written off by many pollsters, Labour surged in the final weeks of the campaign. It drew strong support from young people, who appeared to have turned out to vote in bigger-than-expected numbers. Although the Labour Party's vision for exiting the EU can be considered softer since it remains ambiguous on access to the Single Market and Customs Union, the party's leader Jeremy Corbyn also advocates for a deep break with the EU by stopping freedom of movement - one of the fundamental freedoms that EU citizenship guarantees, and a red line for Brussels.