May's future uncertain as Conservatives lose majority

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May waits for the result of the vote in her constituency at the count centre for the general election in Maidenhead, June 9, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Prime Minister Theresa May plans to seek the permission of Queen Elizabeth II to form a government even though her Conservative Party lost its majority in the House of Commons.

Downing Street says she plans to meet the queen at 12:30 p.m. local time.

The UK faced renewed uncertainty as the Conservatives lost their majority in the parliament, leaving them unable to form a government on their own.

The Conservatives were in coalition discussions with the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party on Friday. The DUP have ten MPs.

The value of the pound fell against the dollar and euro, as currency traders reacted to the instability of a hung parliament. The first round of Brexit negotiations, due to start on June 19, may be postponed.

Although the Conservatives are still the largest party, Prime Minister Theresa May's position was not clear.

The Conservatives won 42 percent of the vote and Labour 40 percent. Both gained from the demise of the UK Independence Party, which went from 12.6 percent in 2015 to 2 percent.

Voter turnout was up 2 percent on 2015 at 68 percent. An increased turnout of young voters may also have lifted Labour.

May called the election to increase the Conservatives' majority in Parliament, strengthen the UK's position in Brexit negotiations and to ask for a personal mandate for her prime ministership but the electorate has rebuffed her.

May was shaken despite winning her own seat of Maidenhead. Speaking at the count, May said: "If the Conservative party has won the most seats and most votes then it will be incumbent that we will have that period of stability and that is what we will do." But many Conservatives thought that May's position was untenable and that she should resign. Conservative MP Anna Soubry told the BBC that May should consider her position. "It is bad. She is in a very difficult place … It was a dreadful night. I've lost some excellent and remarkable friends. This is a very bad moment for the Conservative party and we need to take stock and our leader needs to take stock."

May took the decision to call an election in the hope that the country would endorse her leadership before negotiations begin with the European Union on Brexit. May also put herself at the centre of the campaign, rather than the party, which makes the failure to gain a majority more personal.

The Labour Party did much better than expected. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader won his seat in north London. He said that the UK had rejected austerity politics. "Politics has changed. Politics isn't going back into the box where it was before. What's happened is people have said they've had quite enough of austerity politics."

He also called for May to resign. "She wanted a mandate. 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."

The Conservatives needed 326 seats to get a majority but with four seats to declare they had 315, Labour 261, the Scottish National Party, 35, Liberal Democrats 12 and the Democratic Unionist Party 10.

In Scotland, the Conservative Party fared far better than they had in decades. They ousted Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader in Westminster in his Moray constituency. The SNP's former leader Alex Salmond also lost to the Conservatives in Banff and Buchan. The SNP lost 21 seats to the Liberal Democrats and Labour as well as the Conservatives.

A major issue in Scotland was the prospect of a second independence vote, which voters seem to have rejected.

Northern Ireland became a two-party state with Sinn Fein rising from 4 to 7 seats and the DUP gaining 10. Sinn Fein MPs do not take their seats in Westminster because they refuse to to take the oath of loyalty to the Queen.

AP contributed to this story.