After Shocking Election Turn, Here's What's Next in UK

Conservatives looking to form government with DUP
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 9, 2017 5:24 AM CDT
Updated Jun 9, 2017 6:14 AM CDT
After Election Shock, May Cuts a Deal
Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted as he arrives at Labour party headquarters in London, Friday, June 9, 2017.   (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)

Theresa May appears set to stay on as prime minister despite the spectacular failure of her attempt to increase the Conservative Party's majority with an early election in the UK. The BBC reports that May, whose party lost 12 seats in Parliament, leaving it without the majority needed to govern alone, is planning to form a government with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party. With 326 seats needed to form a majority, the DUP's 12 seats would give 330 or 331 votes on legislation, depending on how the final undeclared race turns out. The opposition Labour Party says it is also ready to form a minority government, though there is little chance of it forming a coalition with 326 seats. The latest:

  • Sources tell the Guardian that May has cut a deal with the DUP and will meet with the Queen Friday afternoon to confirm her plan for a new government. "We want there to be a government. We have worked well with May. The alternative is intolerable," a DUP source says, adding that the party will try to ensure there is a Conservative prime minister as long as leftist Jeremy Corbyn leads the Labour Party. Other sources, however, tell the BBC that the DUP is still examining the "messy" situation and talk of a coalition is premature.

  • Corbyn's Labour Party came second, but vastly outperformed expectations by picking up dozens of seats and denying May a majority, reports the Washington Post. "The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate," Corbyn told supporters, urging May to step down. "Well, the mandate she’s got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support, and lost confidence."
  • The surprise result cast doubt both on the Brexit negotiations, which are scheduled to start in just 10 days, and on plans for a second referendum on Scottish independence, the AP reports. The pro-independence Scottish National Party lost 20 of its 54 seats. Paul Nuttall, leader of the pro-Brexit UKIP party, resigned after losing the party's only seat in Parliament. He told supporters the party has a "great future" as the "guard dogs of Brexit."
  • The results in full can be shown here. UKIP's share of the vote is down more than 10% since the 2015 election, which resulted in gains for both Labour and the Conservatives.
  • The Independent looks at the DUP and the implications of the small party holding the balance of power. In Northern Ireland, the party has fought hard to block same-sex marriage and the lifting of the ban on abortion.
(More British elections stories.)

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