UK elections 2017: June 19 Brexit talks may be delayed as May loses House majority

Conservatives are shy of the magic 326 figure for an overall majority in the House of Commons

A hung Parliament is the likely result of the June 8 general elections in the UK as the Theresa May-led Conservatives have failed to win an overall majority. the latest BBC forecast has said. 

The Gurdian has also reported that a hung Parliament has been confirmed. At the time of writing, the Conservatives were predicted to win 318 seats, down from the 331 won by the party in the 2015 general election, while the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party was predicted to win 261 seats, adding 29 seats to their previous tally. 

With talks on Britain's departure from the European Union due to start on June 19, the election results have brought in an element of uncertainty at a time when the UK could perhaps least afford it. In fact, Reuters reported that the talks could now be delayed.

The results were in line with what exit polls had forecast. According to the NOP/Ipsos MORI poll for BBC/ITV/Sky channels, May's ruling Conservative party was set to lose its parliamentary majority in the crucial general election. The exit poll came after the voting was closed Thursday evening.

The Conservative party is shy of the magic 326 figure for an overall majority in the House of Commons.

Analysts at global bank Citi said they expect May to resign on Friday as Prime Minister once the final results are announced by lunch time. 

Corbyn calls for May's resignation as her gamble fails

May's gamble to call a snap general election in the hope of winning a stronger mandate and a larger majority has backfired. 

As exit polls showed that the Conservatives would lose their majority in Parliament, Corbyn called for May to resign.

"The Prime Minister called this election because she wanted a mandate. The mandate she's got is lost votes, lost Conservatives seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence," said Corbyn, who held his seat after winning more than 73 per cent of the vote in his constituency.

"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," Efe quoted him as saying late Thursday.

Brexit uncertainty 

May has been denied the stronger mandate she had sought to conduct Brexit talks as British voters dealt her a punishing blow. 

"A hung parliament is the worst outcome from a markets perspective as it creates another layer of uncertainty ahead of the Brexit negotiations and chips away at what is already a short timeline to secure a deal for Britain," Craig Erlam, an analyst with brokerage Oanda in London, told Reuters.

"Perhaps the most obvious conclusion is that the likelihood of the UK needing to request a delay in the Brexit process has risen substantially," JPMorgan said in a note, according to Reuters. 

Former Opposition and Labour leader Edward Miliband tweeted that the results meant that May could no longer negotiate Brexit for the UK. 

Former UKIP leader Nigel Paul Farage tweeted that May had put the Brexit process in jeopardy with the result of the snap polls.