ADVERTISEMENTIt was an election gamble that has backfired.
Results after the UK snap election show the Conservatives led by Theresa May have lost their majority with a hung parliament.
Votes are still being counted, but so far the Conservatives have lost 12 seats and the opposition Labour Party has gained 31 seats.
May was defiant as the results came in, and amid calls to resign, after voters denied her a stronger mandate for Brexit talks with the European Union.
She said: “At this time more than anything else this country needs a period of stability and if as the indications have shown and this is correct that the Conservative party has won the most seats and probably the most votes, then it will be incumbent, honest to ensure that we have that period of stability and that is exactly what we will do”.
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With just two constituencies still to declare results, the Conservatives have 317 seats, Labour 261, the Scottish National Party 35 and the Liberal Democrats 12.
The Conservatives needed 326 seats in the 650-seat parliament to have a majority.
The result produces a hung parliament and a potential political impasse just 10 days before the Brexit negotiations with the EU are due to begin.