2017 UK General Election - Hung Parliament In UK As Theresa May's Election Gamble Backfires Friday June 09,2017

• The Conservatives have lost their Commons majority - the Tories are now the largest party in a hung Parliament
• The Conservatives plus 10 DUP MPs may have 329 seats - more than the other parties put together.
• There are 261 seats for Labour - up 29 seats; 35 seats for the SNP, a loss of 21 seats; the Lib Dems are up four to 12 seats; Plaid Cymru on four seats; the Greens on one, and none for UKIP
• Voter turnout is up by 2% to 69% - the highest since 1997. The vote share is Conservative 42%, Labour 40%, Lib Dems 7%, UKIP 2% and the Greens 2%.

Prime Minister Theresa May's bet that she could strengthen her grip on power by calling an early election backfired on Friday June 09,2017, with her Conservative Party on the verge of losing its parliamentary majority and May facing calls to resign.

The outcome - an astonishing turn following a campaign that began with predictions that Theresa May would win in a historic landslide - immediately raised questions even among her fellow Tories about whether she could maintain her hold on 10 Downing Street.

It also threw into disarray the country's plans for leaving the European Union, threatening to render Britain rudderless just days before talks were to begin with European leaders over the terms of the nation's exit.

As of 5 a.m., a projection based on a combination of exit polls and official results put the Conservatives at 313 seats - eight short of what they would need for a working majority in the 650-member Parliament and well down from the 331 they won just two years ago.

RESULTS 643/650   (MAJORITY MARK: 326)

	Party	Seats	Change
	Conservative and Unionist Party	313	-12
	Labour Party	260	+29
	Scottish National Party	35	-21
	Liberal Democrats	12	+4
	UK Independence Party	0	-1
	Others	23	1

The Labour Party was forecast to win 260 seats - an unexpected gain of dozens of seats under far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn

The outcome gave him at least a chance, albeit a remote one, of becoming prime minister - something virtually no one had thought possible before Thursday June 08,2017 's vote.

There was little doubt that the Conservatives would emerge, again, as the largest party. But as Labour unexpectedly picked off seats - especially in areas of London that had voted last year to remain in the EU - May's once-undisputed political authority was being called into question.

"The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate," Corbyn said in an early morning speech after winning reelection to his north London district. "Well, the mandate she's got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that is enough for her to go, actually."

Minutes later, May - her voice trembling - delivered her own speech in which she said that as long as the Conservatives remain the largest party, they should be allowed to govern.

"The country needs a period of stability," she said.

Britain’s Previous Hung Parliaments

May 2010
Prime Minister: David Cameron (Conservatives)
Composition: Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition
Lasted: Five years
February 1974
Prime Minister: Harold Wilson (Labour)
Composition: Labour minority government
Lasted: Eight months

1929
Prime Minister: Ramsey MacDonald (Labour)
Composition: Minority Labour government backed by Liberals
Lasted: until 1931, but amid the Great Depression, MacDonald formed 'National' coalition government of Conservatives, Liberals and small number of Labour MPs which won 1931 and 1935 elections.

1923
Prime Minister: Ramsey MacDonald (Labour)
Composition: Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin's Conservatives won more seats than Labour but stepped aside for Labour's MacDonald
Lasted: 10 months

1910
Prime Minister: Herbert Asquith (Liberal Party)
Composition: Liberal Party in a minority government, with support of Labour and the Irish Nationalists. Then a coalition government from 1915.
Lasted: Six years