Election 2017 live updates: Theresa May claims Conservative government supported by DUP will provide 'certainty'
The Independent will be bringing you all the live updates as the UK's next government is formed
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has said she will form a Conservative government backed by the DUP, claiming it can bring "certainty" to the UK.
After visiting the Queen, the Prime Minister claimed there was a "strong relationship" between the two parties, amid concern over the DUP's controversial anti-abortion and anti-LGBT policies.
The PM has also apologised to Conservatives who lost last night. She said: "I'm sorry for all those colleagues who lost their seats." She will "reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward" after the result, she added.
The UK voted for a hung parliament after shock losses for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election. With 649 of 650 seats declared, the Tories had 318 seats - eight short of the figure needed to win outright - with Labour on 261, the SNP on 35 and Liberal Democrats on 12.
Jeremy Corbyn's party increase its share of the vote by 9.6 per cent, while the Tories were up 5.5 per cent, the Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP saw small loses and Ukip's vote collapsed.
The live blog has now ended
Politicians, voters, and even their pets have been heading to polling stations and are posing for the cameras at every opportunity.
The Prime Minister has made clear that she would rely on the support of the Democratic Unionist Party in order to get her programme through Parliament, despite concern over its stance on issues including equal marriage, abortion and climate change.
Making no allusion to losses suffered by the Conservatives, Ms May said she intended to press ahead with her plans for Brexit.
She faced calls from within her own party to consider her own position after the election, which she brought forward by three years in the hope it would deliver an increased majority in the Commons.
Jeremy Corbyn urged her to resign and allow him to form a minority administration, declaring: “We are ready to serve this country.”
But, after intensive talks with the DUP, the Prime Minister instead drove the short distance to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen for permission to form a new government.
The final election results came in late on Friday, after Kensington finally declared a Labour win — with a tiny 20-vote majority. They were:
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson took her dog, "Mister Wilson" along to the polling station this morning
On Twitter false rumours about the importance of voting in pen have resurfaced from last year's EU independence referendum.
Many are urging people to vote in pen because counters can rub out votes in pencil but this is categorically not true.
The Electoral Commission advises people to vote in pencil because the pen can be easily smudged when the ballot paper is folded in half - possibly making your vote unclear.
A spokesman for the commission told The Independent: "In the UK, pencils are traditionally used for the purposes of marking ballot papers and are made available inside polling stations for voters to use. However, there is nothing to stop a voter from using a pen to mark their vote – there is no legal requirement for ballot papers to be marked with a pencil.
"The reason that pencils are traditionally used is partly for historical and practical reasons: with ink pens there is always a risk that they may dry out or spill.
"Also, ink may cause some transfer of the mark the voter has made on the ballot paper when they fold it, thus potentially leading to a rejection as it may look like they have voted for more options than they are entitled to. "The use of pencils does not in itself increase the likelihood of electoral fraud. Legislation has built specific safeguards into the process, such as the requirement for seals to be attached to ballot boxes at the close of poll.
"By law, campaigners are also entitled to be present at that stage and to attach their own seals if they wish. At the start of the count, they can then observe those same seals being broken.
"Tampering with ballot papers is a serious offence and if anyone has evidence that ballot papers are being tampered with, they should report this to the police"
In more #dogsatpollingstations news, Mabel apparently wants to be able to join in the fun
8th June also marks the 104th anniversary of the death of Suffragette Emily Wilding-Davison who was killed trying to pin a ribbon on the king's horse.
In 1911, she hid in a broom closet in the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft underneath Westminster Hall overnight so she could list her address as the Houses of Parliament in that year's census. Veteran Labour MP Tony Benn later unofficially installed a plaque to her in that same broom cupboard.
In 1918, women over 30 with property were granted the right to vote. In 1928 the franchise was equalised.
The Conservative party headquarters of Theresa May's constituency in Maidenhead appears to have been vandalised overnight
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