May strikes deal to get DUP support

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party struck a deal with the small Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which will allow her a slim majority in parliamentary votes.

Under the terms of the deal, Northern Ireland will receive an extra $1.3 billion from the state over two years in exchange for DUP supporting the ruling party.

May can now muster an effective working majority of 13, given that the Irish Republican Sinn Fein do not take up their seven seats in the House of Commons and Speaker John Bercow and his three deputies - two of whom are Labour MPs - do not take part in votes.

The deal is not a formal coalition, rather a so-called "confidence and supply" arrangement, under which the DUP will line up with the UK government on key parliamentary votes, such as the Queen's Speech and the Budget.

May met DUP leader Arlene Foster and colleagues at her official residence in Downing Street, London, on Monday to finalize the pact.

Media reports said the DUP had been seeking an extra 2 billion pounds in funding for various projects in Northern Ireland, though Foster and her colleagues played down that speculation on Monday.

"We share many values in terms of wanting to see prosperity across the UK, the value of the union, the important bond between the different parts of the UK," May said after the meeting.

"We very much want to see that protected and enhanced and we also share the desire to ensure a strong government."

Unexpected election

May, who inherited a 17-seat majority a year ago when she took over as prime minister from David Cameron, called an unexpected general election for June 8 this year which ended with her failing to reach the 326-seat mark needed for a parliamentary majority.

She said she had called the election to give her a firm and clear mandate to negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union.

Her poor showing in the polls meant she had to drop most of the more controversial plans in her election manifesto, and instead last week's Queen's Speech, which formally sets the government's agenda, focused mainly on the Brexit negotiations, which got under way last week.

Xinhua and AFP contributed to this story.

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