UK election 2017
The latest updates on the UK general election.
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UK election hangs in balance in disastrous night for PM May
ReutersPrime Minister Theresa May faced calls to quit on Friday after her election gamble to win a stronger mandate backfired, throwing British politics into turmoil and potentially delaying the start of Brexit negotiations. -
Delighted to hear Sarah Jones has been elected in Croydon Central. @LabourSJ will be a brilliant MP for her communi… https://t.co/DKrSRdhoZ94:06 AM - 09 Jun 2017- Reply
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UK election hangs in balance in disastrous night for May
Reuters UKPrime Minister Theresa May faced calls to quit on Friday after her election gamble to win a stronger mandate backfired, throwing British politics into turmoil and potentially delaying the start of Brexit negotiations. -
Prime Minister Theresa May faced calls to quit on Friday after her election gamble to win a stronger mandate backfired, throwing British politics into turmoil and potentially delaying the start of Brexit negotiations.
Below is a running total for how many seats each party holds.
Conservative - 256
Labour - 231
Lib Dems - 10
SNP - 32
Greens - 0
UKIP - 0
Other - 21
Unreported - 100
- The first results to be counted tend to be in geographically smaller urban constituencies, which often vote Labour.
Many larger rural seats, which tend to elect Conservatives, will not report results until after 0400 GMT.
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Sturgeon says election 'disastrous' for May
Reuters UKScottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said the results of the election were disappointing for her party but were disastrous for Prime Minister Theresa May. -
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Amber Rudd just holds on to her seat, by 346 votes after recount4:55 AM - 09 Jun 2017
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5:05 AM - 09 Jun 2017
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Thrilled to have been elected to serve as MP for East Dunbartonshire once more. Thank you to everyone who helped ma… https://t.co/WzquYrCPZ65:08 AM - 09 Jun 2017
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Factbox - Should she stay or should she go? Conservative lawmakers on May's future
Reuters UKBritish Prime Minister Theresa May looks set to lose her parliamentary majority on Friday after a surprisingly poor election performance, throwing her own future into doubt. -
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Below are comments from members of May's Conservative Party on her position:
JACOB REES-MOGG, EUROSCEPTIC LAWMAKER
"I think Mrs May will have a good deal of support. She's only been the leader for under a year, she got it without any opposition, an uncontested election with support up and down the country. I don't think the Conservative Party is so fickle, or such a fair-weather friend as it would not continue to back the Prime Minister."
ANNA SOUBRY, PRO-EUROPEAN LAWMAKER
"She's in a very difficult place, she's a remarkable and a very talented woman and she doesn't shy from difficult decisions, but she now has to obviously consider her position."
"Theresa did put her mark on this campaign, she takes responsibility as she always does, and I know she will, for the running of the campaign. It was tightly knit group, and it was her group that ran this campaign."
"I'm afraid we ran a pretty dreadful campaign, that's probably me being generous."
"The change of heart on social care, I'm afraid, deeply flawed Theresa May, it did not make her look the strong and stable prime minister and leader that she had said that she was. That was a very difficult and very serious blow in terms of her own credibility."
IAIN DUNCAN SMITH, FORMER CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER
"I just want some stability. She is prime minister, she remains prime minister and the country has to come first."
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What's happened so far?
- Prime Minister Theresa May is facing calls to quit after her election gamble to win a stronger mandate backfired, throwing British politics into turmoil and potentially delaying the start of Brexit negotiations.
With no clear winner emerging from Thursday's parliamentary election, a wounded May signaled she would fight on, despite being on course to lose her majority in the House of Commons. Her Labour rival Jeremy Corbyn said she should step down.
An updated BBC forecast predicted May's Conservatives would win 318 of the 650 seats, eight short of a majority, while Corbyn's left-wing Labour would take 267 -- producing a "hung parliament" and potential deadlock.
Sky News predicted May would score somewhere between 315 and 325 seats
With talks of unprecedented complexity on Britain's departure from the European Union due to start in just 10 days' time, there was uncertainty over who would form the next government and over the fundamental direction Brexit would take.
May had unexpectedly called the snap election seven weeks ago, even though no vote was due until 2020. At that point, polls predicted she would massively increase the slim majority she had inherited from predecessor David Cameron before launching into the Brexit talks. Find out more.
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Britain may need to ask for delay to Brexit process - JPMorgan
Reuters UKBritain may have to delay Brexit talks in the absence of a majority for Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party, JPMorgan said on Friday. -
Interior minister Rudd holds seat in election after recount
Reuters UKBritain's interior minister Amber Rudd just managed to hold onto her seat in Thursday's national election, but she saw her previous 4,796 majority slashed to just 346 votes as her Conservative Party was predicted to lose its majority. -
Election hangs in balance on disastrous night for May
Reuters UKPrime Minister Theresa May was fighting to hold on to her job on Friday as British voters denied her the stronger mandate she had sought to lead the country into divorce talks with the European Union. -
A possible hung parliament
"A hung parliament is the worst outcome from a markets perspective as it creates another layer of uncertainty ahead of the Brexit negotiations and chips away at what is already a short timeline to secure a deal for Britain," said Craig Erlam, an analyst with brokerage Oanda in London.
With the smaller parties more closely aligned with Labour than with the Conservatives, the prospect of Corbyn becoming prime minister no longer seems fanciful.
That would make the course of Brexit even harder to predict. During his three decades on Labour's leftist fringe, Corbyn consistently opposed European integration and denounced the EU as a corporate, capitalist body.
As party leader, Corbyn unenthusiastically campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc, but has said that Labour would deliver Brexit if in power, albeit with very different priorities from those stated by May.
"What tonight is about is the rejection of Theresa May's version of extreme Brexit," said Keir Starmer, Labour's policy chief on Brexit, saying his party wanted to retain the benefits of the European single market and customs union.
Potential alliances
On a nerve-racking night for the Conservatives, interior minister Amber Rudd held on to her seat by a whisker, while several junior ministers were swept away. In one of many striking moments, the party lost the seat of Canterbury for the first time in a century.
If the Conservatives end up falling just short of a majority, they could potentially turn for support to Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a natural ally, projected to win 10 seats.
But Labour had potential allies too, not least the Scottish National Party (SNP) who suffered major setbacks but still won a majority of Scottish seats.
The pro-EU, center-left Liberal Democrats were having a mixed night. Their former leader, Nick Clegg, who was deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, lost his seat. But former business minister Vince Cable won his back, and party leader Tim Farron held on.
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BREAKING: UK PM May's Conservatives no longer able to win outright majority in parliament after 633 seats declared https://t.co/UZYM4VWYHt
12:49 AM - 09 Jun 2017- Reply
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WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CASE OF A HUNG PARLIAMENT:
If neither main party wins a clear majority, markets will have to deal with considerable uncertainty over who will form the next government and what compromises the eventual prime minister will have to make to get the support of other parties.
In 2010, when the Liberal Democrats held the balance of power, markets reacted to the uncertainty by selling sterling. This time round the choice is likely to be even less clear, with the Liberal Democrats greatly reduced in number and the pro-EU Scottish National Party likely to have more influence
The Conservatives' positioning on Brexit and, to a lesser extent other domestic issues like austerity, makes it unlikely that it could find a willing coalition partner, making a Labour-led government the most likely outcome from a hung parliament.
JP Morgan said that despite the uncertainty, that outcome could generate a rise for sterling.
"A hung parliament would in more normal circumstances be viewed as quite a negative for sterling," analyst Paul Meggyesi said in a note distributed to media on Tuesday and sent to clients at the end of last week.
"But in the post-referendum world, all political developments need to be viewed through a Brexit prism and an argument can be made that a hung parliament which delivered or held out the prospect of a softer-Brexit coalition of the left-of-center parties ... might actually be GBP positive."
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What happens next if there's no clear winner
Failure to win an outright Conservative majority leaves Conservative PM May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn scrambling to find partners to support a new government.
As incumbent, May has the right to make the first attempt to form a coalition, though her tough stance on Brexit is likely to make finding a suitable partner difficult.
Until a new government is formed, May and her team of ministers remain in charge and retain their full legal powers to act on behalf of the country, although by convention they would be expected to avoid taking major decisions.
May could attempt to lead a government without commanding a majority, relying on her opponents for support in parliament on an issue-by-issue basis. This will test the cross-party support for her pre-election pledges.
Delays or outright blockages on this legislation would place huge doubts over how Britain would control its borders and trade with the EU after Brexit.
May's plans still rely heavily on being able to pass legislation through parliament. Firstly to convert EU law into British law, and then to form new post-Brexit policy on issues like immigration and tax.
The Conservatives could potentially turn for support to Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), a natural ally, projected to win 10 seats. But Labour have potential allies too, not least the Scottish National Party (SNP) who suffered major setbacks but still won a majority of Scottish seats.
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As Brexit talks loom, shock UK election leaves May hanging by a thread
ReutersPrime Minister Theresa May was fighting to hold on to her job on Friday as British voters dealt her a punishing blow, denying her the stronger mandate she had sought to conduct Brexit talks and instead weakening her party's grip on power. -
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UK PM May no longer able to win outright majority in parliament
British Prime Minister Theresa May can no longer win an outright majority in parliament, Reuters calculations based on partial results of the election showed.
After the results of 633 seats were declared, May's party was on 308 seats and therefore no longer able to reach the 326 mark it would need to claim a majority in Britain's 650-seat parliament.
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If May resigns and triggers a leadership election, her successor won't have their own mandate and we'll be back to square one6:14 AM - 09 Jun 2017
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Wary Brussels faces Brexit conundrum after UK vote shock
ReutersBritain's European Union partners do not know what to make of an inconclusive election result that throws the future of Prime Minister Theresa May in doubt and may delay if not more seriously derail talks on Brexit. -
Election gamble leaves 'strong and stable' British PM anything but
ReutersIt was never meant to be a high-stakes gamble for Britain's risk-averse prime minister, but Theresa May's attempt to strengthen her leadership by calling an early election has instead left her authority in tatters. -
Sterling stunned by UK election shock, fallout limited elsewhere
Reuters UKSterling spiralled lower on Friday as British elections left no single party with a clear claim to power, sideswiping investors who had already weathered major risk events in the United States and Europe. -
European futures edge higher after shock UK election result
European stocks futures opened a touch higher on Friday after a shock UK election result looked set to throw Britain into fresh political turmoil, with Prime Minister Theresa May's party on course to lose its majority.
Eurostoxx 50 futures were up 0.1 percent, while futures for Britain's FTSE were 0.4 percent higher, with the FTSE 100 set to benefit from a drop in sterling. -
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Election deals May a crushing blow, blurring Brexit talks
Reuters UKPrime Minister Theresa May was fighting to hold on to her job on Friday as British voters dealt her a punishing blow, denying her the stronger mandate she had sought to conduct Brexit talks and instead weakening her party's grip on power.
