PRIME Minister Theresa May has vowed to stay on in Downing Street despite failing to win an overall parliamentary majority after a campaign that she began with a 20-point opinion poll lead.

Having spoken to the Queen in Buckingham Palace, she would try to form a minority government relying on the votes of smaller parties to win parliamentary votes on an issue-by-issue basis.

When Ms May called a snap general election two months ago she hoped to significantly increase her majority and to strengthen her hand in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.

Conservative Party wins 318 of 650 seats, with Corbyn-led Labour a distant second at 261

With 649 of 650 seats declared, the Conservatives won 318 and Theresa May did secure a clear lead over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party which won 261. But she was short of the 326 needed to command a parliamentary majority. Pro-independence Scottish National Party bagged 35 seats.

Mr Corbyn said the prime minister should step down. “The mandate she’s got is: lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence,” he said. “We are ready to serve the people who have given their trust to us.”

But the prime minister insisted that she could carry on. “If...the Conservative Party has won the most seats and probably the most votes then it will be incumbent on us to ensure that we have that period of stability and that is exactly what we will do,” she said.

As the results became clear, the Conservatives reached out to a Northern Irish party — the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) — that stands strongly opposed to Irish unity and strongly in favour of leaving the European Union. It won 10 seats in the parliament.

“Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom,” May said outside her Downing Street residence on an expected partnership between her Conservative party and the DUP.

The DUP itself said only that it would enter talks and it was not immediately clear what its demands might be. Since any deal is not expected to involve a formal coalition, such talks may not hold up the formation of government.

Whatever happens in the next few days, London seems set to have a weaker and less stable government. With negotiations over leaving the European Union in 10 days’ time, the prospect of internal political wrangling is causing concern in Brussels.

“We need a government that can act,” said EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger. “Chaos seems to be complete now,” added Sophia in ’t Veld, a Dutch MEP who is involved in the negotiations for the European Parliament.

But the most senior EU official on Brexit offered calmer words: “Negotiations should start when the UK is ready,” tweeted the chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier. “Timetable and EU positions are clear. Let’s put our minds together on striking a deal.”

Some analysts are interpreting the vote as a rejection of a hard Brexit. “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. But in the past his party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has been seen as only a lukewarm opponent of Brexit and it’s not clear that he will lead an effort to achieve a softer Brexit in part because many Labour voters support leaving the EU.

The financial markets showed anxiety about the election outcome. As the results came in, sterling fell by more than two cents against the US dollar. Traders tried to balance their aversion to political uncertainty with the view that a weaker government in London might end up agreeing to a softer, more economically advantageous, Brexit.

In term of the popular vote, the Conservatives won 43 per cent — a three point lead over Labour.

“I think she is in a very difficult place,” said prominent pro-Europe Conservative MP Ann Soubry. “She should consider her position.”

But other Conservatives insisted she should stay on and continue to press for a hard Brexit.

“She is prime minister, she remains prime minister and the country has to come first,” said Ian Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader and one of the most prominent campaigners to leave the European Union.

But even if Ms May does put together a minority government, there are questions as to how long she can remain in power.

“I don’t think anyone serious thinks Theresa May is going to be leading the Conservatives into the next general election,” said former finance minister George Osborne who resigned after he and David Cameron lost the Brexit referendum.

The collapse in Ms May’s support began when she launched new policies that would negatively effect older voters who traditionally back the Conservative party. Having announced a so-called “dementia tax” which would use the value of people’s homes to fund their care in their old age, she backtracked in the face of popular opposition.

Questions were then raised about whether she was a weak leader. There were also shock results in Scotland. In the 2015 election, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) won an unprecedented 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats. This time it lost 21 seats in large part because the main issue in Scotland was whether there should be a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Voters who opposed the SNP’s demand for a second independence referendum coalesced around the candidates who do not want one. That led to gains for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in Scotland. It was also a bad night for the pro-Brexit United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

Many voters seemed to think there was no point voting for the UKIP because the party had already achieved its main goal of winning the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union.

The Conservative setback was in part a result of young voters turning out in record numbers: “The swing to Labour was higher in places were there are more young voters,” said Britain’s leading election analyst Professor John Curtice.

Jeremy Corbyn had made a direct pitch for younger voters, saying he would abolish university tuition fees. He also proposed raising taxes for the richest 5pc of the population. As the politicians try to chart a way ahead some believe the only solution will be to hold another election in the hope that it will produce a clearer result.

With 649 of 650 seats declared, the Conservatives

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2017