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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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:
Mr Corbyn said Labour has won a "huge mandate" to challenge austerity.
Asked if the uncertainty created by a hung parliament was good for Britain, he replied: "A hung parliament is what we've been given, it's up to MPs to deal with that.
"We have a huge mandate from a huge increase in our support to carry forward a programme that challenges austerity, that challenges poverty and challenges inequality and gives opportunities for young people, for people in the middle, and gives protection for older people.
"That surely is a very important message that the people in this country, in every part of this country, have given us all today."
An update from our business editor, Josie Cox, who is getting reaction in the City this morning:
Stock markets across Europe are higher, showing no signs of distress, which one trader in the City who didn't want to be named, said could be because the UK now is "nothing more than an embarrassment" and has no negotiating clout, meaning that "the EU might be able to do whatever it wants in terms of Brexit.
John McDonnell, the shadow Chancellor, has suggested Labour could seek to form a minority government.
“I think we can have a stable government,” he told the BBC. “We are not looking for a coalition or deals.”
Calling on Theresa May to resign, he claimed that the Conservative Party “cannot re-enter Parliament...in its current, unstable form”.
Mr McDonnell said he was disappointed Labour did not win outright but added: “The achievement of this campaign has been tremendous.”
European media has been eagerly following the election as a barometer of British feeling over Brexit.
The shock of a hung parliament is dominating the homepages of prominent international news websites including Le Monde, Die Welt, Le Figaro, El Pais and Corriere Della Sera.
Die Welt says the result could 'delay and enormously aggravate' Brexit negotiations, which are supposed to start in 10 days.
Credit rating agency Moody's has commented on what this all might mean for the UK's sovereign rating:
“Moody’s is monitoring the UK’s process of forming a new government and will assess the credit implications in due course. As previously stated, the future path of the UK sovereign rating will be largely driven by two factors: first, the outcome of the UK’s negotiations on leaving the European Union and the implications this has for the country’s growth outlook. Second, fiscal developments, given the country’s fiscal deficit and rising public debt.”
Amid mounting speculation in Europe that Brexit negotiations may be delayed, the EU's chief negotiator has this to say:
The Czech Prime Minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, wrote: "A year after the referendum, the British are not able to begin negotiations with the EU"
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