LEFT HANGING
Tories largest party... but no overall majority Corbyn boosts Labour SNP hold six city seats
THERESA May today sought permission from the Queen to form a government in the wake of the disastrous snap election which has robbed Conservatives of their overall majority in the House of Commons.
A Downing Street spokesman said that the Prime Minister was due to travel Buckingham Palace to speak to the sovereign.
The move came after it was made clear that Mrs May has no intention of standing down as Conservative leader, despite calls from among her own MPs for her to consider her position.
As the June 8 poll ended in a hung parliament, with no party holding an absolute majority in the House of Commons, Mrs May pledged the Tories would offer “stability” as the largest party with the most votes.
Her best prospects of forming a government seemed to rest on a possible arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party, whose 10 MPs would be enough to take the Tories - on 318 seats with one constituency left to declare – past the 326 mark to secure an absolute majority.
The Prime Minister’s situation appeared precarious as Conservative former minister Anna Soubry said she should “consider her position” and take personal responsibility for a “dreadful” campaign and a “deeply flawed” manifesto after choosing to go to the country three years early in the hope of extending her majority.
But another prominent internal critic, former education secretary Nicky Morgan, said Mrs May should “carry on” and was “entitled” to see whether she can form an administration.
The surprise election result has thrust the DUP’s leader Arlene Foster into the role of kingmaker.
Speaking shortly before the announcement of Mrs May’s visit to the Palace, Ms Foster said it was “too soon to say” what would happen and predicted it would be “difficult” for the Prime Minister to continue in her role.
“I certainly think that there will be contact made over the weekend but I think it is too soon to talk about what we’re going to do,” she said.
The DUP and Conservatives have been in close touch throughout Mrs May’s year in power, and contacts are believed to have continued as election results came in this morning.
The Northern Irish party is thought to have been cautious about committing itself to an arrangement because of uncertainty about the future of the Tory leadership.
Asked if she thought Mrs May would be able to stay in her job, the DUP leader told the BBC: “I don’t know”, adding: “I think it will be difficult for her to survive.”
That view was echoed by former chancellor George Osborne, sacked from the Cabinet by Mrs May and now editor of the Evening Standard.
He said: “Clearly if she’s got a worse result than two years ago and is almost unable to form a government then she, I doubt, will survive in the long term as Conservative party leader.” After a dramatic night:
Mrs May’s party had 42.4% of the vote while Labour’s share had increased by almost 10 points from its 2015 level to 40.06%.
The pound plummeted as the shock figures set the scene for political turmoil at Westminster, disruption to upcoming Brexit negotiations and the possibility of a second election later in the year.
Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier indicated he was ready to delay the opening of negotiations on Britain’s EU withdrawal, which had been due to start on June 19 ;
The Tories lost eight frontbenchers, with ministers Jane Ellison, Simon Kirby, Gavin Barwell, James Wharton, Nicola Blackwood, Rob Wilson and Edward Timpson going, along with Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer, the author of the widely criticised Tory manifesto.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said he would “fight tooth and nail” to keep Mrs May in post, and dismissed suggestions he might be a contender to replace her.
“The simple truth is we have a Prime Minister, she is a very good leader, I’m a big supporter of hers,” Mr Davis said.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, often tipped as a potential successor to Mrs May as Tory leader, said: “We’ve got to listen to our constituents and listen to their concerns.”