British Prime Minister Theresa May is looking to Northern Ireland for support in forming a new minority government now that her Conservative Party has lost its majority in Parliament.
And former chancellor George Osborne, sacked from the Cabinet by Mrs May and now editor of the Evening Standard, told ITV: "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".
"Theresa May is a dead woman walking".
Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was "a start", but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.
May failed to win a majority in the British parliament in an election on Thursday. Labour remains in the opposition.
May's party fell short of an overall majority following Thursday's vote, and plans to work with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it's not a coalition government or a broader pact.
May's office said Saturday principles of an agreement had been reached, but the two sides later clarified that they are still talking.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "The Prime Minister has tonight spoken with the DUP to discuss finalising a confidence and supply deal when Parliament returns next week".
May called the election early with the aim of shoring up support for the Conservatives ahead of the country's crucial Brexit negotiations, but the move has clearly backfired. But Britain's Saturday newspapers agreed she is just clinging on.
On the doorstep of her official Downing Street residence, Mrs May said her government would provide certainty and lead successful Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
'Positive talks' between Conservatives and DUP over power deal
He said his party would seek to vote down May's Queen's Speech, or program for government, when she presented it to parliament. Labour, the main opposition party, won 262.
"At such a critical time, the Prime Minister must be clear with the people about the deal she has stitched up with the DUP behind closed doors".
"We will enter discussions with the Conservatives about how it may be possible to bring stability to our nation at this time of great challenge", said Arlene Foster, the head of the DUP.
May said Barwell would help her "reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for". Senior EU officials and politicians have said May can postpone the date if she needs to, but with a final deadline for exiting the EU in March 2019, precious negotiating time would be lost if delayed.
"I just can't see how she can continue in any long-term way".
Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said on Twitter: "I will always oppose the death penalty & would resign if others imposed it". Let's get on with the job'.
"We need a government that can act", EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. But for now, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says reports of a plot to remove May herself is "tripe".
Economically, the DUP are very similar to the Conservatives in wanting to increase the Personal Tax Allowance and the National Living Wage, both important for those of you with the horrific possibility of going off into the "real world" after graduating.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said Sturgeon should take the prospect of a new independence referendum off the table.
Others have also said a Conservative-DUP deal could endanger Northern Ireland's peace settlement, which relies on the British government being a neutral arbiter between those who want the province to remain in the United Kingdom and those who want it to become part of the Republic of Ireland.
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