British election results put May’s power at risk

An exit poll suggested Prime Minister Theresa May’s gamble on an early election had backfired.

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call an early election in a bid to strengthen her grip on power appeared early today to have spectacularly backfired, with her Conservative Party at risk of losing its parliamentary majority, according to exit poll and partial official results.

The outcome — an astonishing turn following a campaign that began with predictions that May would win in a historic landslide - immediately raised questions about whether she could maintain her hold on Downing Street. It also threw into doubt the country’s plans for leaving the European Union.

As of 3 a.m., a projection based on a combination of exit poll and official results put the Conservatives at 322 seats - four short of what they would need for a working majority in the 650 member Parliament and down from the 331 they won just two years ago.

The Labour Party was forecast to win 261 seats — an unexpected gain of dozens of seats under far-left leader Jeremy Corbyn. The outcome gave him at least a chance, albeit a remote one, of becoming prime minister — something virtually no one had thought possible before Thursday’s vote.

The results, if they hold, would mark the second time in as many years that the British people have defied predictions, scrambled the country’s direction and bucked the will of a prime minister who had gambled by calling a vote when none had been been required.

But unlike last year’s EU referendum— which delivered a clear if close verdict to get out of the bloc — the will of the voters who cast ballots on Thursday was not nearly as easy to decipher.

There was little doubt that the Conservatives would emerge, once again, as the largest party. But as Labour unexpectedly picked off seats — especially in areas of London that had voted last year to remain in the EU — May’s once-undisputed political authority, and even her ability to continue as prime minister, were being called into question.

“The prime minister called this election because she wanted a mandate,” said Corbyn in a speech after winning reelection to his north London seat. “The mandate she’s got is lost votes, lost Conservative seats, lost confidence.”

Corbyn then said May should resign.

Minutes later, a nervous-sounding May delivered her own speech in which she said that as long as the Conservatives remain the largest party, they should be allowed to govern. “The country needs a period of stability,” she said.

The results raise questions about whether either major party will have enough support to form a government without resorting to forming a coalition — a scenario known as a hung parliament.

If it comes to that, it’s far from clear which parties would team up, or under what arrangements. A “progressive alliance” — including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Scottish and Welsh nationalists, and others — may have as many seats as the Conservatives. But the Conservatives would also have potential coalition partners if they fall short of a majority, including unionists in Northern Ireland.

In the early minutes after the exit polls’ release, the pound fell 2 percent as investors reacted to potential political turmoil.

Tories were incredulous as the exit poll numbers emerged, saying that they thought the results had undersold the party’s performance and that official tallies would give them a higher total. But as the results rolled in, they grew more somber and acknowledged suffering losses.

In Europe, observers were bracing for more instability out of Britain.

“Could be messy for the United Kingdom in the years ahead,” tweeted former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt.

May had acknowledged that a result such as the one signaled in the exit polls would be a defeat.

“If I lose just six seats I will lose this election, and Jeremy Corbyn will be sitting down to negotiate with the presidents, prime ministers and chancellors of Europe,” she wrote on her Facebook page last month.