LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party today suffered a major blow in the snap election after it failed spectacularly to maintain its majority in the parliament, creating new uncertainties ahead of the Brexit negotiations.
The Conservatives, however, emerged as the single largest party in the election for Britain’s 650-seat parliament.
With results yet to be declared for only eight seats, Conservatives had won 313 and Labour secured 260. A party required 326 seats to win the election.
Though May won her Maidenhead seat in south-east England with 37,780 votes, she faced pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority.
Ahead of the final result, May said Britain needed a “period of stability”.
“The Conservative party is on course to winning the most votes and it will be incumbent on us that we provide that period of stability,” May said, seemingly conceding the exit poll predictions of a hung parliament and her dashed hopes of a landslide win.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who defeated predictions to improve his party’s performance in the election, called on May “to go” to make way for his party.
“Politics has changed and this is people saying they have had quite enough… I am very proud of the results that are coming in and the vote for hope. The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate and the mandate is that she has lost seats,” he said.
Corbyn earlier claimed on Twitter that the Labour party had “changed the face of British politics”. (AGENCIES)
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