So it was the Brexit election after all. It started out as one when Theresa May overhyped the threat of pro-Europeans in Parliament weakening her negotiating hand to justify her decision to seek her own mandate. Then it became the non-Brexit election. May offered no new detail about her plans and the spotlight fell on public services and then security. But Brexit undoubtedly affected the outcome of this remarkable election. Remainers and young people who perhaps didn t bother to vote in last year s referendum took their revenge. The hard Brexiteers hoped the election would put the final nail in the coffin of those they call the Remoaners. Instead the tables have been turned. General Election 2017: 6AM results hung parliament confirmed The Remainers have an unexpected spring in their step today. May has paid a very heavy price for ignoring the 48 per cent. The hard Brexiteers who always feared the prize would somehow be snatched from them even after the referendum are re-living their worst nightmare. Brexit will still go ahead since the Conservatives and Labour who won more than 80 per cent of the votes between them both promised that. But it could now be a very different Brexit a much softer version than the one May wanted. Membership of the single market and customs union ruled out by May are now back on the agenda. She wanted to marginalise Parliament in the Brexit process; if she had won a majority the House of Lords would not have blocked leaving the single market or customs union as this was in the Tory manifesto. General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats 7 show all General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats 1/7 Nick Clegg Nick Clegg delivers a speech despite losing the Sheffield Hallam Seat Darren O Brien 2/7 Gavin Barwell Getty Images 3/7 Angus Robertson 4/7 Nicola Blackwood Nicola Blackwood said the UK spent much less than competitors such as Germany and the US PA 5/7 Alex Salmond Former First Minister Alex Salmond is standing for reelection in the constituency of Gordon Scotland PA 6/7 Rob Wilson Rex Features 7/7 Ben Gummer PA Instead Parliament will now play a more important role. Pro-European Tory MPs may well link up with like-minded MPs in other parties to push for a soft Brexit. Some MPs and peers will argue that May s plan for hard Brexit has been rejected. The Tory hard Brexiteers may try to push May or her Tory successor around. On paper they might have the numbers. But there may be no majority in Parliament for hard Brexit. The Tories will almost certainly rely on the votes of Northern Ireland s 10 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs who support Brexit but may have their own demands on the issue. They are hard-nosed negotiators. May will be urged to seek cross-party agreement which would push her towards a soft Brexit. Squaring the circle between single market access and controlling immigration will not be easy. An election designed to strengthen May s hand in the Brexit talks has done the opposite. The 27 EU countries will spot weakness. The irony is that EU officials would have preferred a decisive majority for either the Tories or Labour so there was some stability on the UK side of the table. The 27 want to see the back of Brexit and move on to other issues. Whatever the final shape of Brexit an already difficult process will now become even more problematic. It could become chaotic as the Tories warning about a Labour-led coalition of chaos boomerang. Negotiations with the 27 EU countries are due to start on 19 June. A delay may be needed. We might have a second election before too long if that became the only way to resolve the impasse between the two big parties in a nation divided between Leave and Remain; the old and young; left and right. An election would cause a further pause in the Brexit talks even though the clock is ticking towards the March 2019 deadline. It may have to be extended which would require the agreement of all 27 EU members. But if the talks were going badly the EU could use the deadline to put pressure on the UK to make concessions by using the threat of no deal being reached in time and Britain resorting to World Trade Organisation tariffs. The other scenario is that the Conservatives cannot command a majority in the Commons. It would then fall to Jeremy Corbyn to see if he could win MPs backing for a Labour Queen s Speech. Labour would try to form a progressive alliance with the SNP the Liberal Democrats the Greens and Plaid Cymru. They could probably agree on soft Brexit. But Labour s policy needs fleshing out. It wants to retain the benefits of the single market but accepts that free movement must end. Corbyn might have to revisit his formula on migration. If he became prime minister Corbyn would adopt a more constructive and conciliatory approach to the talks. Under him there would be less chance of the UK leaving the EU without a deal than under the Tories. Corbyn s position on Brexit in the election has been vindicated. It threatened to tear his party apart. By backing the triggering of Article 50 Corbyn reassured enough Leave voters in the North and Midlands that Labour had accepted the referendum result. May did not scoop up all the Ukip vote as she hoped; Labour got a fair slice after all. If he had mounted stronger opposition to Brexit Labour would probably have suffered the same fate as the Lib Dems. Yet Corbyn also reaped the benefit from the Remainers backlash in London. He had the best of both worlds. As Boris Johnson would put it Corbyn could have his cake and eat it. More about: General Election 2017 Brexit Reuse content
LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May s Conservative Party failed to win a parliamentary majority in Britain s election on Friday a shock result that plunges domestic politics into turmoil and could delay Brexit talks. Reuters calculations based on partial election results showed May could no longer win an outright majority leaving Britain with a hung parliament . Below are details of what happens next: Who gets power? For the election to produce a majority government the biggest party theoretically must win at least 326 seats of the 650 United Kingdom constituencies. In practice the threshold for a majority is around 323 because the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party takes up no seats that it wins in Northern Ireland. As incumbent May has the right to make the first attempt to form a coalition though her tough stance on Brexit is likely to make finding a suitable partner difficult. Until a new government is formed May and her team of ministers remain in charge and retain their full legal powers to act on behalf of the country although by convention they would be expected to avoid taking major decisions. Minority conservative government May signalled she could attempt to lead a government without commanding a majority relying on her opponents for support in parliament on an issue-by-issue basis. Speaking as results were still being counted she said Britain needed a period of stability and that she would take responsibility for delivering it if as forecast she won the most seats. This will test the cross-party support for her pre-election pledges. While her hardline Brexit strategy is opposed by all other major parties Britain has already started the clock ticking on leaving the bloc by triggering a two-year negotiation period with Brussels. It is unlikely she would agree to stopping the Brexit divorce. Nevertheless May s plans still rely heavily on being able to pass legislation through parliament. Firstly to convert EU law into British law and then to form new post-Brexit policy on issues like immigration and tax. Delays or outright blockages on this legislation would place doubts over how Britain would control its borders and trade with the EU after Brexit. May s fiscal agenda including plans to balance the budget by the middle of the next decade through a continuation of existing austerity policy would also be opposed by rival parties. Her domestic reforms on issues ranging from fox-hunting to cuts to social care and education funding would also meet substantial resistance and demands for change. However her plans to clamp down on executive pay give workers a say on strategy and make it harder for foreign firms to take over British ones could win support in principle although others would probably demand changes to the policies before agreeing to back them. 2010 redux: Conservative-led coalition The Conservatives formed a coalition in 2010 with the centrist pro-EU Liberal Democrats as junior partner. They governed together until 2015. The two parties are unlikely to be reunited in coalition without major compromises on the central principle of their election manifestos: Brexit. The Conservatives are committed to a complete break with the EU regardless of whether a satisfactory exit deal can be reached. By contrast the Liberal Democrats have promised voters a second referendum on whether to accept a deal with Brussels. Electoral maths do not favour a second coalition. The Liberal Democrats were expected to hold around 16 seats down from 57 in 2010. This limits their ability to take May s support above the require threshold. The party is led by Tim Farron 47 who began his campaign by telling Britons they should have the option of rejecting Brexit in a second referendum and remaining within the EU. The Conservatives other coalition options are limited. They can traditionally rely on the support of Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party which holds 10 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) which was forecast by media commentators to win 35 seats are at ideological loggerheads with the Conservatives. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has argued that Scotland where a majority voted to remain in the EU last year should https://www.scout.org/user/739886/about not be bound by May s plan to withdraw from the EU single market and have the right to hold an independence referendum at the end of the Brexit process. Labour-led coalition A hung parliament could play in Labour s favour even if it won less seats than the Conservatives because it is politically closer to smaller rivals on several issues. Labour has said it would try to form a minority government and Corbyn has refused to discuss forming a coalition after June 8. He is committed to heeding the results of Britain s EU membership referendum a year ago in which 52 percent voted Leave against 48 percent in favour of Remain. However Labour has fought to water down May s Brexit strategy which could make it easier to reach a compromise with either the Liberal Democrats which has ruled out any coalition or the pro-European SNP which says it wants to stop another Conservative government. Labour has said it will tear up May s Brexit negotiating priorities instead focusing the talks on retaining the benefits of the EU single market and customs union. It has also promised to consult parliament more closely throughout the negotiations. Corbyn who would be in charge of negotiating any coalition deal has said he will ensure there is a deal agreed with the EU before Britain leaves and give parliament a meaningful vote on whether to accept the terms of a final deal. Labour has not defined what constitutes a meaningful vote and this would likely be one area where pro-EU parties would demand the power for parliament to send the government back to Brussels to get a better deal - or even to halt the Brexit process altogether. Beyond Brexit Labour plans a radical change in Britain s fiscal policy: raising taxes on large firms and the wealthy to pay for higher public spending on education healthcare and police - an agenda that would fit with the anti-austerity SNP. Labour s finance spokesman and close Corbyn ally John McDonnell says he can achieve this while ensuring the national debt is reduced over the course of the next parliament. However Labour has also committed to creating a 250 billion pound fund for investment in infrastructure which will be spent over a 10-year period indicating it will be funded by borrowing. Economists expect a Labour-led government to substantially increase bond issuance with the effect of increasing borrowing costs over the long term. In what has been described as one of the most left-wing Labour manifestos for decades Labour has also promised to take on multinational corporations and what Corbyn has called wealth extractors . Labour has pledged to raise corporation tax to 26 percent from 19 percent and impose higher taxes on the top 5 percent of earners.
Video The British Election: What Happened and What s Next? Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2017 general election. Her opponent Jeremy Corbyn the Labour leader re-energized his party and altered the landscape of British politics. So what s next? By FRANCESCA BARBER and AINARA TIEFENTHÄLER on Publish Date June 9 2017. Photo by Adrian Dennis/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Watch in Times Video embed LONDON What a mess.Britain was supposed to wake up on Friday with the political clarity finally to begin formal negotiations to leave the European Union a process scheduled to start in 10 days.Instead the country is staring at a hung Parliament and a deeply damaged Prime Minister Theresa May her authority and credibility fractured by her failure to maintain her Conservative Party s majority in Parliament.Ignoring demands that she resign the prime minister said on Friday that she would cling to power by forming a minority government with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.Because the Conservatives won the most seats and the most votes Mrs. May gets the first chance to form a new government despite winning only 318 seats 12 fewer than in 2015 and short of a formal majority of 326 in the 650-seat House of Commons. The Democratic Unionists won 10. Continue reading the main story
BRUSSELS: The European Union urged British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday to start Brexit talks as quickly as possible but warned of complications ahead after she lost her majority in a snap election. As May promised to stick to the timetable for starting negotiations in 10 days time the EU said time was running out to secure a deal before Britain formally leaves in March 2019. European Council President Donald Tusk said the urgent task was to conduct talks in the best possible spirit and minimise disruption for citizens and businesses. The timeframe set by Article 50 of the Treaty leaves us with no time to lose Tusk who acts on behalf of the EU s 28 national leaders said in a congratulatory letter to May referring to the divorce clause in the EU s Lisbon Treaty. Former Polish premier Tusk had earlier called on May to do your best to avoid a no deal as result of no negotiations after Britain s repeated threats to walk out of talks if the EU pushes key issues including a 100-billion-euro exit bill. Brussels was left in shock after May s gamble to increase her majority badly backfired with fears that it could hold up talks that have still not started almost a year after Britain voted to leave the EU. Despite facing calls to resign May vowed Friday to form a new government to lead Britain out of the EU adding after a speech in Downing Street: Now let s get to work. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he hoped there would not be further delay in the Brexit talks that we are desperately waiting for. As far as the commission is concerned we can open negotiations tomorrow morning at half past nine Juncker told reporters in Prague. EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier who was responsible for setting the goal of starting talks in the week beginning June 19 said they should start when the UK is ready. Timetable and EU positions are clear. Let s put our minds together on striking a deal the Frenchman said on Twitter. Barnier had previously set a timetable of talks starting the week beginning June 19 with agreement on initial issues by autumn of this year and a provisional Brexit deal in October 2018. But EU budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger said Britain s May was now likely to be a weak partner. The British need to negotiate their exit but with a weak negotiating partner there is a danger that the talks are bad for both parties Oettinger told German radio. Britain and the EU are at odds over almost every detail of the divorce from the sequencing of the talks to the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and the size of the bill Brussels says it must pay to leave. EU officials had hoped a strong win for May would make it easier to override domestic opposition and compromise with the EU. European Parliament Brexit negotiator and Belgian ex-premier Guy Verhofstadt warned the election result would make talks more difficult. Yet another own goal after Cameron now May will make already complex negotiations even more complicated Verhofstadt tweeted comparing the outcome to former British prime minister David Cameron s ill-fated decision to call last year s Brexit referendum. Manfred Weber the head of the European Parliament s largest group and a key ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said May had caused chaos . EU is united UK is deeply split. PM May wanted stability but brought chaos to her country instead tweeted Weber who leads the centre-right European People s Party. The clock is ticking for Brexit. Therefore the UK needs a government soon. The date for the beginning of negotiations is now unclear. Gianni Pittella leader of the socialist bloc in parliament added: It s a disaster for May. Her huge gamble has backfired spectacularly. She has no credibility in UK or Europe. She should resign. May must now face the other 27 European leaders at a summit in Brussels on June 22 and 23.
If there was any remaining hope in Brussels or European capitals that the British establishment would return to reality-based politics this latest election campaign and result should eliminate it. When it comes to Brexit the UK is like a child that just will not see reason. The only grown-ups left in that room called Europe must therefore start preparing to impose their own solution. The rise of the remainers is about to begin. May s Brexit strategy lies in ruins | Simon Jenkins Read more Another own goal after Cameron now May tweeted Brexit negotiator for the European parliament Guy Verhofstadt last night. Yet the own goal was not holding this election. Last year s EU referendum campaign was waged with lies manipulation and delusional promises leading millions of Britons to vote for an option that was simply not on the menu: shirking all the obligations of EU membership while keeping the benefits. In Boris Johnson s infamous phrase: let s vote to have our cake and eat it. This election could have been the moment when Britain made a choice between two options that were actually available: having that cake and therefore sailing with open eyes into the inevitable economic shock and pain of hard Brexit. Or keeping the cake by becoming a bigger Norway and accepting all the rules of the single market: no end to EU immigration significant contributions to the EU and acceptance of the European court of justice. This is how democracy is supposed to work but it was not at all what Labour or the Conservatives offered. Both all but avoided Brexit during the campaign wallowing in platitudes or pretending this was merely one isolated issue among many. Even by the most conservative estimates Brexit will cost the UK billions. Where is this money going to come from? By and large British journalists let them get away with this and so it was that the BBC election broadcast yesterday took no less than 90 minutes before bringing on Brussels correspondent Katya Adler. She then pointed out what nobody had apparently deemed interesting enough to say earlier: since the UK has triggered article 50 to leave the EU the clock is ticking to avoid crashing out of the EU altogether a scenario that makes the economic disaster of a mere hard Brexit look tantalisingly attractive. Add to this that in a hung parliament these all-important negotiations probably cannot start and you have an absolutely alarming situation. The guests nodded and that was that. This is in one image the state of denial that Britain is still in surprising election result or not. This morning sources around Theresa May leaked to the Tory-friendly Daily Telegraph that she is likely to stay on as prime minister because she does not want to allow Brussels to delay Brexit talks . Brussels cannot afford to risk the integrity of the single market by saving Britain from itself through a sweet deal One has to ask what is in May s morning briefings on the EU and Europe. Clippings from the Daily Mail and the Sun with a balanced selection of Ukip tweets? Ever since the referendum the EU has effectively said first that you can take our rules or leave our rules but there is not going to be a special deal because then every member state will demand opt-outs and exceptions and the whole single market disintegrates . And two please start withdrawal proceedings as soon as possible. As Le Monde editor Arnaud Leparmentier put it on Twitter last night: The great danger is becoming hostage to British foot-dragging. He added: Messieurs les Anglais finissez en (in good English: Get on with it). That is the view from a country where the newly elected president Emmanuel Macron did do what Labour and the Conservatives failed to: present the voters with the dilemmas facing France and then put forward his own set of solutions. It earned him the very thing Theresa May wanted but did not get: a mandate. Alas European leaders now have a duty to look after their own citizens interests. Brussels cannot afford to risk the integrity and coherence of the single market by saving Britain from itself through a sweet deal. But nor can it risk total economic meltdown in the UK since this would send dangerous economic ripples across the continent. It would also jeopardise Britain s ability to pay for its Nato contribution. There are no good options left for the EU. But going on the reactions to this British election campaign in major European newspapers at least Europeans are no longer in denial or delusional about Britain s denial and delusion.Photo Prime Minister Theresa May in London on Friday. Credit Justin Tallis/Agence France-Presse Getty Images LONDON Like a stumbling figure from The Walking Dead Britain s prime minister Theresa May has yet to realize that she is a political zombie. For all her poise as she spoke on Downing Street on Friday the day after Britain s general election when she declared her intention to continue in office she is roaming the land of the undead. Sooner or later reality is going to bite hard.Once again almost all the pundits pollsters and political betting wonks got it wrong. Less than a year after Brexit stunned this country and seven months after Donald Trump won in the United States a political outcome that seemed certain and preordained was upset by people actually going to vote. They made an emotional pick and now Mrs. May has to figure out what to do after a net loss of seats in the House of Commons that deprives her of the overall majority required for stable government.As the extent of the upset became clear on Thursday night it was assumed even by many of Mrs. May s most ardent supporters that she would be gone by Friday morning. There was talk of a dignified exit a timetable for departure and then unavoidably another general election. Instead Mrs. May has formed a pact with Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party an alliance that will give her an aggregate number of members of Parliament that passes just the 326-seat threshold required for a governing majority.Doesn t this suffice? Surely a politician is entitled in such circumstances to be creative if only to deprive her opponents of power? Continue reading the main story
LONDON: Prime Minister Theresa May s gamble of calling snap polls spectacularly backfired today with the British electorate delivering a hung Parliament and forcing her to seek the support of a small Northern Irish party for staying in power as the country braces for hard Brexit talks. May jolted by the electoral setback however remained defiant to calls for her resignation and vowed to form a minority government with the informal backing of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen and I will now form a government -- a government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country a grim-faced May said in a statement delivered outside 10 Downing Street. May 60 said the two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and she believes that they will be able to work together in the interest of the country. This will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful Brexit deal that works for everyone in this country - securing a new partnership with the EU which guarantees our long-term prosperity. That s what people voted for last June. That s what we will deliver. Now let s get to work she said. Though May s Conservative Party emerged as the single largest party on a sensational election night the impressive show by the Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn sent the British politics into turmoil putting May in a complex situation ahead of the Brexit talks scheduled to start on June 19. The results -- a sort of turnaround in fortunes for both major parties -- have thrown that timetable into doubt. With results declared for nearly all of the 650 seats Conservatives won 318 while the opposition Labour secured 262 leaving neither party anywhere close to the 326 seats required for an overall majority. The Tories will now have to rely on the DUP s 10 MPs to get things done. DUP leader Arlene Foster confirmed she will enter talks with May in an effort to pursue stability in Parliament without giving further details on the conditions for the party s support. The shock defeat for Conservatives -- despite the pre- poll projections of a comfortable majority -- was seen by the British media as a humiliation for May to continue in her position. Corbyn 68 may not have dislodged May in the polls but the Labour Party s strong showing prompted him to demand her resignation saying she lost votes lost support and lost confidence of the people. May in April had chosen to call the election three years ahead of the schedule to try to strengthen her hand in talks with the European Union to pull Britain out of the single market. The result threw the UK in a political turmoil amid increasing terror-related incidents. May won her Maidenhead seat in south-east England with 37 780 votes but faced pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority she had before the election. The election had been classified as a Brexit election and the result is being seen as giving hope to the 48 per cent who had voted to remain in the EU in the June 2016 referendum and a rejection of May s so-called hard Brexit stance. EU s chief negotiator Michel Barnier indicated Brexit talks now be delayed from the date set for its start. Barnier tweeted the talks should begin only when the UK is ready . Conceding to her dashed hopes of a landslide win May earlier said: My resolve is the same that as it has been. Whatever the results the Conservative party will remain the party of stability. At this time the country needs a period of stability and it will be incumbent on us that we provide that period of stability she said. Corbyn beaming with hope claimed on Twitter that the Labour party had changed the face of British politics . 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 after his win from his seat at Islington North in north London. Labour picked up 29 seats and the Tories were on course to lose 13 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) were down by 22 losing seats to the Tories Labour and Liberal Democrats in a major setback for Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The turnout in the election is estimated at around 68.7 per cent -- up 2 per cent on the last general election. The Conservatives have won 44 per cent of the vote Labour 41 per cent the Liberal Democrats 8 per cent UKIP 2 per cent and the Greens 2 per cent. The tally for the remaining parties stands as 35 MPs for SNP Liberal Democrats have 12 MPs up four from last time and others at 13 MPs. Among some of the heavyweight losses of the night include that of former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg losing his Sheffield Hallam stronghold to the Labour party while fellow party colleague Vince Cable - who had lost his seat in a shock result in 2015 - has regained his Twickenham seat. The last hung Parliament result in the UK was in 2010 when David Cameron took over as PM and formed a Conservative- led coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The election which has overturned all opinion poll projections of a strong Conservative party majority recorded the highest turnout in 25 years at 68.7 per cent with nearly 32 million of the 46.9 million registered voters casting their ballots. The number of votes is the highest since 33.6 million voted in 1992 when Conservative leader John Major made it four general election wins in a row for the Tories.
6.37am BST 06:37 The Snap: your election briefing Claire Phipps Here we are the morning after the morning after with Theresa May still in No 10 still prime minister and still without a majority. I m Claire Phipps with your morning roundup and the last of this election s Snap briefings and the live blog to guide you through Saturday. The winners who lost It turns out that June could still be the end of May but perhaps not quite yet. The prime minister zipped off to see the Queen on Friday without quite having her own queenmakers in place. While Arlene Foster leader of the Democratic Unionist party agreed that Northern Ireland s biggest group of MPs would be holding talks with the Tories no firm deal appears to have been struck and May herself mentioned her friends and allies only fleetingly in her this is fine Downing Street address. Her new government would provide certainty the PM insisted trying gamely to give the impression that losing her majority had been the plan all along and she absolutely meant to kick herself in the head. Somehow she forgot to mention the vanished majority at all or the colleagues who had found themselves out of a job (an addendum issued later a sad-faced oops). Wiped http://thoughtforthedayquotes.hatenablog.com/ too is the Theresa May s team branding. Back in comes the official but rarely deployed Conservative and Unionist party . That title at least gives some Venn diagram overlap with the DUP but questions persist over where else they might find accommodation. Jonathan Powell chief of staff to Tony Blair at the time of the Good Friday agreement was not the only person to question what this might mean for the Westminster government s duty to be neutral in Northern Ireland especially against the backdrop of a mothballed Stormont. Given the fascination during the campaign with Lib Dem leader Tim Farron s views on gay sex and abortion it s no surprise that the same scrutiny is now turning to the 10 DUP MPs. The answers (along with a tinge of climate change denial) might be no surprise either but are causing concern among some in a Tory party already rather rattled by their leader s unnecessary electoral self-own. Ruth Davidson: I asked for a categoric assurance and I received it . Photograph: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson a rare cheery Tory yesterday who saw the number of MPs in Scotland spiral from one to 13 tweeted that she was a Protestant Unionist about to marry an Irish Catholic partner Jen Wilson. She said she had received categoric assurance from May that gay rights would not be harmed by a deal with the DUP: I told her there there was a number of things that count to me more than party. One of them is country one of the others is LGBTI rights and I asked for a categoric assurance that if any deal was done with the DUP there would be absolutely no rescinding of LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK and that we would try to use any influence that we had to advance LGBTI rights in Northern Ireland. Davidson also labelled as B cks her asterisks not mine this is the Guardian a claim by the Telegraph that Scotland s Tories were set to go their own way in the wake of May s hubristic result. Also going nowhere for now are five key cabinet ministers. Shuffling the deck is hard when your hand is broken. Chancellor Philip Hammond home secretary Amber Rudd foreign secretary Boris Johnson Brexit secretary David Davis and defence secretary Michael Fallon all stay put. But May s closest aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill described by one anonymous cabinet minister as monsters who propped her up and sunk our party might not get one of her categoric assurances. The thornier question is whether the PM s own life cycle is longer than a mayfly. An optimistic reference in her speech to her ambition to over the next five years build a country in which no one and no community is left behind could prove to contain a glaring exception. With the rightwing press darting from cheering her efforts to crush the saboteurs by calling the snap election to she s had her chips in the hours afterwards allies might be harder to find than an ordinary person at a Theresa May campaign rally. Still someone has to turn up for those Brexit negotiations 10 days from now: the talks May said she was concentrating on so much she couldn t spare the time for TV debates. The talks she said would be fronted by Jeremy Corbyn if she lost six seats (she lost 13). The losers who won A big hand: Jeremy Corbyn at Labour party HQ. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters Who d make predictions these days but chances are it won t be Corbyn at those Brexit chats. Nonetheless the Labour leader who lost the election but emerges as the closest thing to a winner insisted he was ready to serve . A euphoric day for Labour (tempered by the occasional reality check that they were not the government) was dealt an extra dollop of homemade jam on Friday night when it took Kensington the Kensington one of London s richest if not evenly spread constituencies from the Tories by an elfin 20 votes. The stream of Labour MPs confessing to their own faulty polling predictions provided extra balm to Camp Corbyn. Here s Owen Smith last year s leadership challenger: I was clearly wrong in feeling that Jeremy was unable to do this well and I think he s proved me wrong and lots of people wrong and I take my hat off to him. So where did that Labour surge come from? Memes obviously and a canny social media strategy. But beyond that the answers were complex and indicative of a shrugging of the political landscape. There was the youth and student contribution. There was the fact that the disintegration of the Ukip vote did not land plumly in the laps of the Tories but sought out Labour too. There was the Labour manifesto and the malfunctioning Conservative version. There was Wales. There was even Scotland. Talking of which Continuing the theme of the day the SNP won the most seats in Scotland and simultaneously received a thrashing. In 2015 they scooped all but three of the 59 constituencies; the others were doled out neatly one each to Labour the Conservatives and the Lib Dems. Two years later the SNP took home 35 seats saying farewell to its biggest names on the way and witnessed Labour leap up to seven the Lib Dems to four and the Tories to an eye-rubbing 13. It wasn t all about talk of another independence referendum insisted Nicola Sturgeon while conceding it undoubtedly was a factor. Her deputy John Swinney thought the prospect of indyref2 was a significant motivator saying the SNP would have to be attentive to that . Nicola Sturgeon at Bute House: I have now gone 36 hours without sleep. Photograph: Russell Cheyne/AFP/Getty Images The Lib Dems too found that the promise of another vote wasn t a huge vote-winner. Twelve seats is mathematically a chunky boost to the eight they won in 2015 (there was a brief dalliance with a ninth but with Richmond Park returning to Zac Goldsmith after just six months in Sarah Olney s hands we ll skim over that). Twelve seats is not however the party of the 48%. Then again nor was May s result argued Farron a mandate for hard Brexit. Oh and a Ukip leader resigned. Plus ça change as Paul Nuttall probably wouldn t like me to say. At a glance: Caroline Lucas is sole glimmer of light on tough night for Greens. Pound recovers after sharp falls as political turmoil hits markets. Lesley Riddoch: Have we reached peak SNP? Don t count on it. Olympic officials would resist DUP demand for Team GB to be Team UK. Catch up with the Guardian s Election Daily podcast. Read these The BBC s political editor Laura Kuenssberg assesses the mood inside the Tory party: One minister predicted that slowly and reluctantly the party might rally round her. But sentiment in the party never scientific seems to be drifting away from allowing that situation to happen. Three MPs have publicly questioned her right to stay on. One senior Conservative told me she has to go suggesting she has a responsibility to the party to get the Queen s Speech through show the Conservatives can form the government and then she ought to move aside. Other MPs are gently exploring the possibility of submitting letters to the chairman of the 1922 committee 48 would be required to trigger a leadership contest. Another former minister told me: I just can t see how she stays. Play Video 2:35 Arlene Foster: DUP will look to bring stability to UK video In the New Statesman Patrick Maguire says the Tory-DUP alliance poses a challenge to the future of Northern Ireland s devolved legislature: The closeness of the government to the DUP in the last parliament led to James Brokenshire the Northern Ireland secretary taking lines that were frankly nakedly partisan on issues such as Troubles legacy prosecutions. This like the other points of disagreement between the DUP and Sinn Féin was supposed to have been dealt with by the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements of 2014 and 2015. Brokenshire s posturing won him few admirers among the nationalist cohort at Westminster. If Nigel Dodds ends up wielding considerable influence over the next Tory government he will have fewer still. There is very little trust and very little goodwill left on Sinn Féin s part towards the UK government and indeed its ability to broker a deal that saves the devolved institutions. Breakthroughs of the day A record number of women were elected to the House of Commons: 208. (That s only 32% though so still plenty of patriarchy left to ruffle.) Over half of MPs in the incoming parliament went to state comprehensives which is somehow staggeringly the first time that has happened. The Sutton Trust finds 51% went to comprehensives and 29% were privately educated. And 3% of all MPs went to a single school which was drumroll Eton. Preet Gill winning Birmingham Edgbaston became the first Sikh female MP; Tanmanjeet Dhesi in Slough is the first turban-wearing Sikh MP. There are now 52 minority ethnic MPs according to thinktank British Future which called it the most diverse UK parliament ever . And there is also a record number of LGBTQ MPs: at least 45. The day in a tweet Police Community (@PolComForum) Dear Theresa it s not the number of MPs that counts it s how you use them. You have to do more with less that s all June 9 2017 And another thing Like the snap election itself the Snap email briefing is now over. Console yourself by signing up here for the Guardian morning briefing instead; you can read the latest edition here. And one last thing Unlike many news organisations the Guardian hasn t put up a paywall we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. The Guardian s independent investigative journalism takes a lot of time money and hard work to produce. Here s how you can support it. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 6.17am BST 06:17 Today s Guardian editorial says Theresa May misjudged the electorate and a lot of people misjudged Jeremy Corbyn: What Mrs May and many others did not see was the mood for change among the British people. After seven years of fiscal austerity with deep cuts in public services and a steady fall in real wages millions of voters wanted a better and fairer way for Britain. Mrs May herself partially understood that as her embrace of the just-about-managing and her disapproval of greedy City executives showed. But she failed to turn those words into deeds. Instead she campaigned as an inflexible ironclad spurning debate parroting inane slogans insulting her opponents and botching her manifesto launch. It was an emotionally unintelligent campaign. At times it verged on the delusional and hubristic. And it ruthlessly exposed Mrs May s many failings Yet just as Mrs May squandered her advantage so Mr Corbyn seized his. He offered hope fairness and a better Britain. The party s ambiguity on Brexit one perhaps of accident rather than design helped attract ex-Ukip voters while simultaneously keeping remainers on board. It was all delivered by a leader who surprised not just the electorate but probably also himself with the warmth of the response to his authenticity and honesty. On the campaign trail and in the interview studio Mr Corbyn displayed all the empathy that Mrs May so singularly lacked. By the end of the campaign Labour was a revived and effective party. It was rewarded by a surge in votes that carried it to a 40% share of the ballots cast for the first time since 2001. Those who said Mr Corbyn was unelectable look foolish today. Although much uncertainty still exists about the party s capacity to work together Labour must try to do so. There must be a recognition that this is Mr Corbyn s party now. The Guardian view on the 2017 election result: a call for a different Britain | Editorial Read more Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 6.00am BST 06:00 It wasn t quite the Oscars La La Land/Moonlight fiasco but the announcement of the wrong winner as the Tories took Mansfield was results night s biggest gaffe (if you don t include calling a snap election in which the governing party loses its majority): Wrong election winner announced in Mansfield video Updated at 6.04am BST Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 5.30am BST 05:30 Richard Adams For the first time more than half of MPs elected to the House of Commons were educated in state comprehensive schools according to a round-up of MPs educational backgrounds published by the Sutton Trust. The new parliament will have 51% of MPs educated at comprehensives compared with less than half in 2015 while the proportion of MPs who were privately educated falls to 29%. Two-thirds of Labour MPs went to comprehensives along with 38% of Tory MPs. The shift comes as the Conservative party struggles with its manifesto commitment to open new grammar schools in England. The policy was pushed by Nick Timothy May s adviser but it failed to impress voters and was downplayed during the election campaign. Almost nine out of 10 of MPs are graduates with 23% having Oxbridge degrees and 29% attending other Russell Group universities. Oxford with 98 alumni in the House has almost double Cambridge s 52. Sir Peter Lampl founder of the Sutton Trust said: If parliament is to truly represent the nation as a whole able people from all backgrounds should have the opportunity to become MPs. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 5.11am BST 05:11 While Theresa May will find in the DUP agreement on Brexit they are pro although Northern Ireland as a whole voted 56% to remain in the EU there could be flashpoints on other issues. The DUP manifesto made commitments to retain the pensions triple lock and universal winter fuel allowance both of which the Tories pledged to scrap. DUP leader Arlene Foster said she would resist any assault on the universal benefit in Northern Ireland. Updated at 5.11am BST Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 4.47am BST 04:47 Matthew Weaver Bernie Sanders has congratulated Jeremy Corbyn on Labour s performance in the general election. The Vermont senator who narrowly failed to win his bid for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race for the White House said he had watched the UK results coming in on Thursday and was very pleased about the party s showing. I am delighted to see Labour do so well the Vermont senator said in a Facebook post linking to a Guardian news story. He went on: All over the world people are rising up against austerity and massive levels of income and wealth inequality. People in the UK the US and elsewhere want governments that represent all the people not just the 1%. I congratulate Jeremy Corbyn for running a very effective campaign. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 4.28am BST 04:28 The Times editorial today is damning. Usually paywalled the editor has helpfully tweeted out a copy of the leader column that calls the current situation a national emergency : The Conservatives calamitous showing in the election has left Britain effectively leaderless at a moment when its fate depends on leadership. This crisis has been years in the making. Mrs May s party believes that government is in its DNA. Yet it has failed to win a majority in five of the past six general elections and it has left the country all but ungovernable as a consequence of two extraordinary miscalculations. The first of these was David Cameron s decision to proceed with a European referendum from which he had expected to be spared by continued coalition with the Liberal Democrats despite his failure to win from Brussels a meaningful renegotiation of Britain s relationship with the EU. The second was Mrs May s decision to call a snap election against the advice of her chief political consultant with a manifesto described by the former chancellor George Osborne as the worst in the party s history. Mrs May is now fatally wounded. If she does not realise this it is another grave misjudgment. More likely she is steeling herself to provide what continuity she can as her party girds itself for an election to replace her. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 4.03am BST 04:03 The poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy has written a poem for the election entitled Campaign. It appears on the front page of the Guardian this morning: In which her body was a question-mark querying her lies; her mouth a ballot-box that bit the hand that fed. Her eyes? They swivelled for a jackpot win. Her heart was a stolen purse; her rhetoric an empty vicarage the windows smashed. Then her feet grew sharp stilettos awkward. Then she had balls believe it. When she woke her nose was bloody difficult. The furious young ran towards her through the fields of wheat. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 3.44am BST 03:44 Anushka Asthana and Rowena Mason report that cabinet ministers and a string of Conservative MPs are demanding that Theresa May sacks one or both of her closest advisers: Several politicians told the Guardian that Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy who act as the prime minister s joint chiefs of staff in Downing Street must take responsibility for the poor result which saw the Tories lose their majority. The pair were at the centre of recriminations flying back and forth between MPs on WhatsApp groups and even resulted in one cabinet minister branding the pair as monsters who propped her up and sunk our party . Much of the anger centred on a manifesto policy on social care drawn up by Timothy along with Ben Gummer the Cabinet Office minister who lost his seat and policy chief John Godfrey which resulted in a humiliating U-turn that tightened the polls. When asked whether she was planning any personnel changes May said she was focusing on forming a government but said those matters were for another day. Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill leave Conservative Party headquarters on Friday. Photograph: Frank Augstein/AP Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 3.23am BST 03:23 The White House has issued a readout of the call between US president Donald Trump and Theresa May. It offered no explicit congratulations though it mentioned warm support for the PM: President Donald J Trump spoke today with prime minister Theresa May of the United Kingdom to offer his warm support regarding the election. President Trump emphasised his commitment to the United States-United Kingdom special relationship and underscored that he looks forward to working with the prime minister on shared goals and interests in the years to come. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 3.00am BST 03:00 Speaking on Friday to BBC Radio 4 s The World at One Jonathan Powell Tony Blair s chief of staff at the time of the Good Friday agreement said a deal with the DUP could threaten the peace process in Northern Ireland: I do think it s a mistake to go into government with the support of our friends in the DUP. Even John Major avoided doing that and the reason he avoided that is the peace process is based on a balance that the British government has made it clear it is neutral in Northern Ireland it doesn t take sides. Once you have their support you are no longer neutral. It matters for two big reasons. First we haven t managed to get the executive back up and running in Northern Ireland because of divisions between the two sides. The British government were trying to mediate between the two sides to get an administration up and running again and of course now it can t possibly have that role of mediating. And secondly I think it s a mistake because one of the big issues in the Brexit negotiations is the border between north and south. Now the DUP is a minority in its view about Brexit it s in favour of Brexit. This is going to be a very real problem. Whatever you put on a piece of paper you re living there with a minority government. That s dependent on the DUP. You get to a crucial issue and then they say: Remember what we want in terms of talks in Northern Ireland and the government has a choice. Do they say: We re not giving you that. We ll let the government collapse ? Or do they just bend a little on that issue it s just one small issue it doesn t matter? But beyond that the government can t possibly be seen as neutral on Northern Ireland now if it puts itself at the mercy of the DUP. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.38am BST 02:38 Nicola Slawson Labour has staged a major upset by taking Kensington one of the wealthiest constituencies in London from the incumbent Conservative candidate Victoria Borwick in a dramatic result 24 hours after polling closed. Emma Dent Coad the Labour candidate and local councillor overturned Borwick s 7 000 majority by just 20 votes. She took 16 333 (42.23%) of the vote compared with Borwick s 16 313 (42.18%) representing a swing of 11.11% to Labour. After the second count in the early hours officials were sent home to rest before the third and final count began at 6pm on Friday evening. Labour s Emma Dent Coad speaking after she was elected as MP for Kensington. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA Supporters for all the candidates made their way back to the Kensington town hall for the count although there was notably more supporters for Dent Coad. The Conservatives were said to have accepted they had not won earlier on Friday. There were also hints of the contest being a bitter fight between rich and poor with Borwick seen to represent the richer members of the constituency and Dent Coad the poorer. Borwick promised that the fight to win the seat back would begin on Saturday. The atmosphere was electric and emotional outside the hall where about 40 members of local community groups from some of Kensington s most marginalised neighbourhoods were waiting to give Dent Coad a hero s welcome as she walked out to greet them. After chanting her name the crowd fell silent to hear their new MP speak. She told them: Kensington has spoken. Always speak out never be silent again. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.15am BST 02:15 Claire Phipps Welcome to our fresh live blog as Saturday looms with Theresa May still in 10 Downing Street still prime minister but with an uncertain day week and month(s) ahead. On Friday in the wake of an election that wiped out her own majority a defiant May insisted she could provide certainty with a minority Conservative government relying on support from Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist party and its 10 MPs. But her initial failure to recognise the scale of the setback or to commiserate with colleagues who had lost their seats in what many Tories see as an unnecessary electoral gamble has caused further irritation in the ranks. The prime minister was forced to address this in a later statement in which she did acknowledge that all was not rosy: I wanted to achieve a larger majority. That was not the result we secured. And I m sorry for all those candidates and hard-working party workers who weren t successful but also for those colleagues who were MPs and ministers and contributed so much to our country and who lost their seats and who didn t deserve to lose their seats. She also confirmed that her top five cabinet ministers chancellor Philip Hammond home secretary Amber Rudd foreign secretary Boris Johnson Brexit secretary David Davis and defence secretary Michael Fallon would stay in their roles. But pressure is growing on May to step aside herself or to sack her two key advisers Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill to whom many in the party attribute the car-crash campaign performance. We will have live updates on the live blog throughout Saturday. Join us in the comments or find me on Twitter @Claire_Phipps. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close
Theresa May has pledged to form a new government to lead Britain out of the European Union despite losing her majority in a snap general election and facing calls to resign. Seeking to capitalise on high popularity ratings the Conservative Party leader and prime minister called for a snap election despite her initial pledges not to urging voters to give her a stronger mandate to lead the UK s Brexit ngotiations. What the country needs more than ever is certainty May said on Friday https://challenges.openideo.com/profiles/592fd7ad9cc23a57898acea81496307634622 after the outcome of Thursday s vote. She had called the election in an effort to extend her majority and strengthen her hand in the looming Brexit negotiations but her gamble backfired spectacularly. READ MORE: UK election live updates May s Conservative Party won 319 seats in the House of Commons the UK s lower chamber of parliament landing seven seats short of a majority. In the 2015 general election the Conservatives had won 331 seats. None of the other parties that stood for election managed to surpass the majority threshold resulting in a British hung parliament. The Labour Party landed 261 seats up 29 seats since the last election a major gain for Jeremy Corbyn who no one expected to deliver such a stellar performance. Mandate from the queen May who received a mandate from Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government was forced to rely on Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party s (DUP) 10 seats in parliament to pass legislation. It is clear that only the Conservative and Unionist Party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that May said in a short speech at 10 Downing Street. This will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful Brexit deal. Downing Street has confirmed that some members of the cabinet will hold on to their posts. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond Home Secretary Amber Rudd Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon will be part of May s new government. What does Theresa May stand for? Corbyn called on May to resign after she lost her majority in parliament. The prime minister called this election because she wanted a mandate Corbyn said at the vote count in his constituency. Well the mandate she s got is lost Conservative seats lost votes lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that s enough to go actually and make way for a government that will be truly representative of all of the people of this country. Labour Shadow chancellor John McDonnell suggested his party could form a minority government. We have laid the foundations for a minority government and then eventually a majority government he told the BBC. Tim Farron the leader of the Liberal Democrats joined the ranks of those demanding May to step down. Progressive alliance A so-called progressive alliance between Labour the Scottish National Party the Liberal Democrats Plaid Cymru and the Greens would have 313 seats. For its part the EU urged May on Friday to start Brexit talks as quickly as possible but warned of complications ahead. Donald Tusk European Council president said the urgent task was to conduct talks in the best possible spirit and minimise disruption for citizens and businesses. READ MORE: May s demagogic streak and the hypocrisy of the media Britain and the EU are at odds over almost every detail of the Brexit process but European officials had hoped a strong win for May would make it easier to override domestic opposition and compromise. The fact that May was forced to rely on the DUP in parliament further complicates Brexit negotiations for her. While the DUP favoured the UK s break from the EU the party opposed a so-called hard Brexit and insisted that free trade with the 27 country bloc and safeguarding the rights of EU nationals in Britain are among its priorities. Corbyn celebrates Labour s surprising result with Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry Darren Staples/Reuters Source: News agencies
What Theresa May said: I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen and I will now form a government. What she meant: I have made a terrible mistake and I am not going to admit it. What she said: A government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country. What she meant: A government that will clear up after itself. The situation is critical because I called an election when I shouldn t have but I will now go into the reactor core and sort it out. What she said: This Government will guide the country through the crucial Brexit talks that begin in just 10 days and deliver on the will of the British people by taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union. What she meant: The Government not necessarily led by me. I tried to make the election all about me and you didn t like it so I am trying another tack. I am just one of the team. But seriously you think Boris could do better? Theresa May to remain Prime Minster after forming government with DUP What she said: It will work to keep our nation safe and secure by delivering the change that I set out following the appalling attacks in Manchester and London cracking down on the ideology of Islamist extremism and all those who support it. And giving the police and the authorities the powers they need to keep our country safe. What she meant: National security. Me. Safe. Not her Amber she just does what I say. Or him David Davis SAS man. He is in Brussels making sure there are sharpened pencils for the meeting. National Security. Me. Safe. What she said: The Government I lead will put fairness and opportunity at the heart of everything we do so that we fulfil the promise of Brexit together and over the next five years build a country in which no one and no community is left behind. What she meant: You thought I was going to announce I would be standing down as soon as a successor is elected. Absolutely right: in five years time. What she said: A country in which prosperity and opportunity are shared right across this United Kingdom. What she meant: The only reason socialism hasn t worked is that it has never really been tried. Read more Theresa May s incompetence has set women back What she said: What the country needs more than ever is certainty and having secured the largest number of votes and the greatest number of seats in the general election it is clear that only the Conservative and Unionist Party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the House of Commons. What she meant: It is a total disaster but if you think I m going to start apologising think again. I got the most votes and seats. It is not a win but I m at this lectern and you try to take it away from me. What she said: As we do we will continue to work with our friends and allies in the Democratic Unionist Party in particular. Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom. What she meant: I ve done a deal with Arlene although she will tell her Free Presbyterians that she is negotiating hard with me and thinks it may be possible to get what they want (pork barrel mostly). What she said: This will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful Brexit deal that works for everyone in this country securing a new partnership with the EU which guarantees our long term prosperity What she meant: I have divided the country as never before and will channel my energies into horse-trading to try to stay in power. Minnie Driver s joy as Theresa May s future hangs in balance What she said: That s what people voted for last June. What she meant: They voted for me. Well they voted to get rid of David Cameron. Same thing. What she said: That s what we will deliver. What she meant: Me. More of me. Until at least Monday. What she said: Now let s get to work. What she meant: No questions. More about: General Election 2017 Theresa May DUP hung parliament Conservative Reuse content
A chastened Theresa May is attempting to move on from her botched election gamble under intense pressure from members of her own cabinet and Tory backbenchers to dramatically improve her game. The Prime Minister spent the day in difficult conversations with senior ministers whose support she now desperately needs despite having likely planned to sack some just 48 hours ago when she expected to win the election outright. The Independent understands a key issue raised was that of the role of her two most senior aides Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy who many Tories see as having undue power at the centre of government. Read more Heidi Allen says Theresa May will be gone in six months Ahead of what is promising to be a bruising meeting with Tory backbenchers next week MPs publicly questioned Ms May s position and her campaign with one even branding it madness while others demanded changes to her Brexit strategy and raised concerns about a deal with the Northern Irish DUP. Government sources also told The Independent Ms May s need to win the unionists support to govern could cause her problems in Westminster as it may commit her to spending on public services in Ulster that she cannot replicate elsewhere. In contrast Jeremy Corbyn s position as Labour leader appeared rock-solid with former critics admitting his more open and engaging campaign had been an effective foil to Ms May s stale stage-managed appearances. Going into the election reports emerged of Ms May s post-vote plans to reshuffle her top team with prominent figures like Chancellor Philip Hammond Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson either facing the sack or being moved. But the tables were turned after Ms May s credibility was damaged following the election result which saw the Tories lose 12 seats eight held by ministers. By Friday morning it was the Prime Minister s job in question. Just after 5pm Downing Street confirmed Mr Hammond Mr Johnson Mr Davis Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon had all retained their posts. Allies of Mr Johnson s denied reports he had been on manoeuvres to replace Ms May and said along with colleagues that the top ministers primary concern was to ensure the stability of the Government going into Brexit talks. But The Independent understands other concerns were raised about the handling of the campaign and the role of Ms May s all-powerful aides who some blame for its failures. In particular the humiliating U-turn on a social care policy said to have been dropped into the manifesto at the last minute without proper consultation. A source said: It was raised. Theresa is Prime Minister and it s right that she grasps the nettle of difficult policy but there is a wisdom to not doing detailed stuff in the middle of campaign that was lost. The criticism was not reserved to the Cabinet. One ousted MP who had been a minister Rob Wilson said of the social care U-turn: Looking back on it it was madness to do it particularly as it had never as I understand it been floated before. General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats 7 show all General Election 2017: Big beasts who lost their seats 1/7 Nick Clegg Nick Clegg delivers a speech despite losing the Sheffield Hallam Seat Darren O Brien 2/7 Gavin Barwell Getty Images 3/7 Angus Robertson 4/7 Nicola Blackwood Nicola Blackwood said the UK spent much less than competitors such as Germany and the US PA 5/7 Alex Salmond Former First Minister Alex Salmond is standing for reelection in the constituency of Gordon Scotland PA 6/7 Rob Wilson Rex Features 7/7 Ben Gummer PA By Friday afternoon two MPs Anna Soubry and Heidi Allen had already questioned the Prime Minister s chances of remaining in post in radio and television interviews. On Tuesday the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee will meet where all angry backbenchers will interrogate Ms May over her failures. One MP said: If she s got sense and I think she does she will want to come and explain herself get over the pain and difficulty and try and get people behind her. Another backbencher commented: MPs have already been receiving mail from constituents about a possible coalition with DUP and what that might mean. There s an issue with LGBT rights and there will be a full and frank exchange. At lunchtime on Friday Ms May gave a workmanlike speech outside Downing Street setting out her plans for a DUP deal but failing to acknowledge the problems with her campaign. In an apparent effort to ensure MPs saw her showing contrition she later did an interview giving a full apology to those who lost seats. A visibly nervous Prime Minister said: I am sorry for those candidates and hard-working party workers who weren t successful but also particularly sorry for those colleagues who were MPs or ministers who had contributed so much to our country and who lost their seats and didn t deserve to lose their seats. She went on to promise that in the wake of her losses she would reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward . Who are the DUP? Former Cabinet minister Baroness Warsi also questioned a deal with the DUP tweeting: Short term political gain will lead to long term toxic Conservatives brand on #climatechange #LGBT rights #abortion and other imp issues. After frantic consultations with DUP leader Arlene Foster the Prime Minister headed to Buckingham Palace to seek the formal permission of the Queen to form a new government returning to No 10 to announce she had the legitimacy to continue in office. Senior DUP figures made clear they were looking at a limited confidence and supply http://thoughtforthedayquotes.kinja.com/thought-for-the-day-quotes-pdf-things-can-make-about-yo-1795712873 arrangement rather than a more formal coalition leading to some MPs to predict that there could another general election before the year is out. Read more Britain s election result sends tremors through special relationship Theresa May apologises to Tory MPs who lost their seats in the general Gambler loses 70 000 on unlosable general election bet One government source told The Independent that their demands were likely to be for more money with infrastructure and services likely to be at the top of the party s wish-list. Asked if giving favoured spending to Northern Ireland might be a problem elsewhere the source said: It doesn t matter. They ll do it It s only a small nation in the grand scheme of things. The DUP are experts at playing this game. They know exactly what they want but are never going to get too close to us. More about: Theresa May General Election 2017 Jeremy Corbyn DUP Boris Johnson Reuse content
