May sees ballot box gamble fail

Exit polls indicate Britain heading towards hung parliament Tories projected to be Westminster’s largest party but could fall short of majority, as speculation begins on Prime Minister’s future

Theresa May’s decision to call a snap general election looked to have backfired after a shock exit poll predicted she would lose the Tory majority.

It suggested the UK was heading for a hung parliament, with the Conservatives on 314 seats, 12 short of the 326 they need for an absolute majority in the Commons.

It also predicted the SNP would drop from 56 MPs to 34, with Labour on 266, and the Liberal Democrats on 14. Polling expert Professor John Curtice said the result indicated that Mrs May had failed in her bid to get a greater mandate for Brexit but he could not rule out the possibility that the Tories would still gain a smaller majority.

The Conservatives will lose their overall UK parliamentary majority, according to a shock general election exit poll.

Theresa May’s party would return 314 MPs, leaving them comfortably the largest party but 12 short of having overall control of the House of Commons.

If the prediction is correct, it would represent a huge blow to the Tory leader, who called the snap vote when she was riding high in the polls in a bid to strengthen her position ahead of the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

Matthew Shaddick, head of political betting at Ladbrokes, updated the bookmaker’s odds to predict Mrs May would leave Downing Street within the next six months.

He said: “The exit poll suggests Theresa May’s gamble to call an election has backfired. Our odds now reflect that we think she may be gone by the end of the year at 4/5.”

Tory defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon told the BBC: “This is a projection, it’s not a result. These exit polls have been wrong in the past.”

Labour would be on 266, up by 34 compared to the 2015 result, and the Liberal Democrats would return 14, up by four compared to two years ago.

No exit poll quarter of a century has been more than 15 seats wrong about the number of politicans making up the biggest group, although it does not factor in postal votes, thought to be about 25% of ballots cast across the UK.

Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell also warned against reading too much into the prediction, saying: “We have to have some scepticism about all polls at the moment.”

Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary, called for the Prime Minister to quit, though.

She told Sky News: “I think Theresa May should consider her position. I think she should go. I think we’re on the verge of a great result.

“The hubris of the prime minister... she wanted to do what she wanted and we said no, we meant it, we put together a great manifesto, if anyone is strong and stable it’s Jeremy Corbyn.”

In another shock, the BBC/Sky/ITV poll predicted the SNP would return 34 MPs, meaning the Nationalists would lose 22 sitting politicians.

That result means the Tories would likely make massive gains north of the border, potentially making a crucial difference, although senior sources were urging caution about reading too much into the results so far.

Murdo Fraser, a Tory MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “In Scotland the exit poll shows the SNP on 34 seats.

“That would be an astonishing decline for the SNP who go into this election holding 56 seats out of 59.”

Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Government’s minister for social security, said: “From the SNP point of view, if we have the majority of seats in Scotland, then that would be a good result for the SNP.

“In 2016, we had six MPs. 2015 was an extraordinary, probably once-in-acentury result, so 34 – we would hope for better. I’m sure we will get better but it’s not a disaster for the SNP. “It is a disaster for the Tories tonight.” Professor Michael Keating expressed caution of the exit poll in Scotland.

He said across the UK exit poll had been shown in the past to be very reliable with more than 30,000 people surveyed at 144 polling places. Only 10 Scottish stations were included, however.

Ex-North East Fife MP and former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said the poll results showed Mrs May’s Brexit strategy had failed and insisted his party would be reluctant to make deals with other parties.

Itisa disaster for the Tories tonight. JEANE FREEMAN

Picture: PA. Theresa May’s position as leader of the Conservative Party became the subject of debate as soon as the exit poll results came out.