UK Labour Party ready to form minority government: Spokesman

The Labour Party is ready to form a minority government if it is confirmed that no party has won an absolute majority in the June 8 elections in the UK, the Labour Foreign Secretary has said.

"It looks tonight like we could form the next government," Emily Thornberry told the BBC on Thursday night.

According to exit polls conducted by the BBC, ITV and Sky television stations, Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party would gain 314 seats, 17 lower than they had in the House of Commons before the parliament was dissolved.

While Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn was forecast to gain 34 seats, taking it to a total of 266 seats, Efe news reported.

To obtain the absolute majority, a party must secure 326 seats in the 650-seat parliament, according to the British voting system.

Thornberry said that the Labour Party could present a government program and a state budget, and asked for support from other parties.

"There's no coalition, there's no deals. Either the Conservatives will be a minority government, if this poll is right, or Labour will be a minority government," she added.

If the result of the exit polls was correct, the Tories would need 12 more seats to reach the absolute majority, otherwise May would have difficulties governing alone and would have to negotiate with a coalition.

Released at the close of voting at 9 p.m. GMT, the polls also give the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) 34 seats (losing 22) and Liberal Democrats 14 seats (winning 6).

The predicted results would represent a disappointment for May, after she called the elections, in the hopes of further expanding her party's absolute majority, to consequently have a firm mandate in the negotiations on the British exit from the European Union.

--IANS

in/