Hung Parliament in Britain: PM May under pressure to resign
UK Prime Minister Theresa May is staring at an uncertain political future after her gamble to call for a snap election backfired. Latest results indicated that the Conservative Party has failed to win an overall majority in parliament, and the country is now set for a hung one.
The results are more devastating for the ruling Conservative Party and quite shocking for May as Labour has significantly gained in areas that has been held by Tories for 100 years. Now, May is under immense pressure to resign.
With results of 645 of the 650 seats declared, the Conservatives have 314 seats as opposed to Labour, which has 261. The Conservatives will have to link up with other parties - most likely Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party -- to form a majority, CNN has reported.
Labour has won Canterbury, a seat the Tories have held for 100 years.The party made huge gains in a seat that has existed in some form since 1387 - and has never been held by Labour.The last time the Tories lost the seat was to Whig politician John Baker, who took it for the second time in 1980, The Independent reported. Leading political figures including former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and former Deputy PM Nick Clegg have lost their seats.
The Conservatives are projected to get 316 seats, Labour 265, the SNP 34 and the Liberal Democrats 13.
The opposition Labour party has performed better than polls indicated but no party will be having the majority . The results are a humiliation for Prime Minister May as she announced the snap general elections to strengthen her hand for dealing with European Union over Brexit talks. The results could derail upcoming Brexit negotiations, which are due to start in just 10 days time.
The results of 2017 general elections will also impact Britain's exit from the 27-nation bloc as the main reason behind calling for sudden elections was to strength May hands in the Parliament so as to negotiate with Brussels and pass necessary legislation. But the results and left the Tories 12 short of the required number of Commons seat s that will embolden anti-Brexit parties .
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign saying 'Politics has changed" as Britons had rejected her policies of "austerity".
Exit polls has indicated her ruling Conservative Party will lose their overall majority in Parliament.
"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 the people of this country."
The pound fell sharply against the dollar, dropping about 1.6% as investors were spooked by the growing political uncertainty.
-ANI
