The pound
fell sharply amid fears the Conservative leader will be unable to form a
government and could even be forced out of office after a troubled campaign
overshadowed by two terror attacks.
After being
re-elected with an increased majority in the London commuter seat of
Maidenhead, May said Britain “needs a period of stability” as it prepares for
the complicated process of withdrawing from the European Union.
She said
that while the full results had yet to emerge, her party seemed to have won the
most seats and “it would be incumbent on us to ensure we have that period of
stability”.
But Leftist
opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose Labour party surged from 20 points
behind, urged May to quit, saying she had “lost votes, lost support and lost
confidence”.
Former
Conservative minister Anna Soubry, who just held onto her seat, said May was
“in a very difficult place” following a “dreadful campaign”.
With a
handful of seats still to be declared, the Conservatives were predicted to win
319 seats, down from 331 in 2015 — yet another upset in a turbulent year since
the EU referendum in June 2016.
They were
mathematically unable to reach the 326 mark that would give them a majority,
meaning they will have to form an informal or formal alliance to forward their
agenda.
Labour are
expected to increase their share from 229 to 260 seats, resulting in a hung
parliament.
May, a
60-year-old vicar’s daughter, is now facing questions over her judgement in
calling the election three years early and risking her party’s slim but stable
majority of 17.
“It is
exactly the opposite of why she held the election and she then has to go and
negotiate Brexit in that weakened position,” said Professor Tony Travers of the
London School of Economics.
Sterling
fell nearly two percent against the dollar on the back of the exit poll, as
investors questioned who was now going to control the Brexit process.
Early
newspaper editions reflected the drama, with headlines such as “Britain on a
knife edge”, “Mayhem” and “Hanging by a thread”.
In a night
that threatened to redraw the political landscape once again, the UK
Independence Party (UKIP), which won 12.5 percent of the vote two years ago and
was a driving force behind the Brexit vote, was all but wiped out, hovering
around two percent.
The
pro-European Liberal Democrats, who have campaigned for a second EU referendum,
increased their number of seats from nine, but their former leader Nick Clegg
lost his seat.
Meanwhile
the Scottish National Party of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, which has
dominated politics north of the border for a decade and called for a new
independence vote after Brexit, was tipped to lose around 21 of its 54 seats.
Deputy
leader Angus Robertson, one of the strongest SNP performers in the House of
Commons, was an early casualty.
– ‘Pressure
to resign’ –
May, who
took over after last year’s Brexit referendum, began the formal two-year
process of leaving the EU on March 29, promising to take Britain out of the
single market and cut immigration.
Seeking to
capitalise on sky-high popularity ratings, she called the election a few weeks
later, urging voters to give her a stronger mandate to go into Brexit talks
that are expected to begin as early as June 19.
Officials in
Brussels were hopeful the election would allow her to make compromises, but
this has been thrown into question by the prospect of a hung parliament.
“It creates
another layer of uncertainty ahead of the Brexit negotiations,” said Craig
Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA currency traders.
Despite campaigning
against Brexit, Labour has accepted the result but promised to avoid a “hard
Brexit”, focusing on maintaining economic ties with the bloc.
Barely a
month ago, the centre-left party seemed doomed to lose the election, plagued by
internal divisions over its direction under veteran socialist Corbyn.
But May’s
botched announcement of a reform in funding for elderly care, a strong
grassroots campaign by Corbyn and the terror attacks, which increased scrutiny
of her time as interior minister, changed the game.
“Even if she
manages to get just enough seats it will be seen as a failure and she may
indeed be under pressure to resign as leader quite quickly,” said Paula
Surridge, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol.
AFP
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