Senior Conservatives said there was no longer support in Parliament for a so-called "hard Brexit" after the party saw its Commons majority wiped out.
A veteran leftist who unexpectedly became Labour leader in 2015 on a wave of grassroots enthusiasm, but was seen by most of his own party's lawmakers as an electoral no-hoper, Corbyn beat expectations with a well-run campaign of striking policies.
British newspapers summed it up in a word: Mayhem. At the same time, pro-Europe Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said she wanted to be involved in "looking again" at Britain's aims for Brexit.
As prime minister, she initiated governmental reforms in an effort to stimulate the economy, which was mired in a recession.
Dr Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House in London, said May's Conservative party still contains fierce Brexiteers who will challenge every concession, but the proportion of her MPs who voted to Remain and who want a pragmatic Brexit is higher than expected.
Still, May's status remains shaky, at best, after the Conservatives' principal rival, the Labour Party, pulled off a dramatically positive showing at the ballot box Thursday.
The final result was announced nearly 24 hours after polls closed.
Speaking outside 10 Downing St., May scarcely acknowledged the election's disastrous outcome, promising to form "a government that can provide certainty".
Far from delivering "strong and stable government", she now leads the United Kingdom in Brexit negotiations from a greatly weakened position having squandered her majority and her authority.
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday visited Queen Elizabeth II to obtain permission to form a minority government with the DUP's support after her Conservative Party lost her parliamentary majority in the general election. The DUP won 10 seats.
The deal sits uneasily with some Conservatives because of the DUP's opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
Deputy Leader of the Northern Irish Green Party Clare Bailey echoed those concerns, telling BuzzFeed News: "The resolution of legacy issues should not be compromised by any arrangement between the DUP and Conservatives".
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But once talks with Brussels have kicked off, Mrs May reportedly faces the chop before Christmas after her snap election gamble painfully backfired. At that point, polls predicted she would massively increase the slim majority she had inherited from predecessor David Cameron.
The latest election shock is "yet another own goal" that will make "already complex negotiations even more complicated", said the European Parliament's top Brexit official, Guy Verhofstadt.
"She might start off doing that but the Conservatives might well replace her mid-stream", he said.
"And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave".
In the Conservative Party, recriminations were immediate and stinging.
In 1975, she seized the leadership of the party and led an aggressive opposition to the Labour government.
"Well look what's happened".
Britain's typically pro-Conservative press questioned whether she could remain in power with the clock ticking on the two-year European Union divorce process.
"If anybody won that election it was him".
Mr Corbyn believes that without an outright majority Mrs May's position is vulnerable and he intends to oppose the Queen's Speech in an attempt to bring down her administration.
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told Sky News that the Labour party was "absolutely on our toes" to set up an alternative minority government if May's government falls apart, accusing the Conservative Prime Minister of "squatting in Downing Street". Theresa May did not have to call this election.
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