As it happenedended

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

Friday 09 June 2017 06:52 EDT

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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

Who are the DUP?

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:

Out of 650 seats

Conservatives 318 (-13)

Labour 262 (+30)

SNP 35 (-21)

Lib Dems 12 (+4)

DUP 10 (+2)

Sinn Fein 7 (+3)

Plaid Cymru 4 (+1)

Green 1 (--)

Ukip 0 (-1)

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 19:07

More on the story about young people being turned away in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Dozens of voters denied chance to vote in marginal seat due to 'administrative errors'Dozens of voters have been denied the chance to cast their ballots in a marginal seat amid claims of administrative errors. Postal votes were reportedly not sent out and some potential voters, including students, were turned away from polling stations. Paul Farrelly, the Labour candidate for Newcastle-under-Lyme, said he planned to refer the council to the Electoral Commission over the “shambles” which he said had prevented at least 50 people from voting.

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 19:10

The ultimate round up of today's Dogs At Polling StationsVoters casting their ballots have revived an election day tradition by tweeting pictures of their dogs waiting patiently outside polling stations. The Twitter hashtag #DogsAtPollingStations was again trending on Thursday, with breeds from Border Terriers to Basset Hounds taking part. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson was accompanied by her partner Jen Wilson and springer spaniel Wilson to vote in central Edinburgh.

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 19:29

You have just over two hours to go before polls closed, if you are still undecided here are our guides to the two main parties' manifesto:

Why should I vote Conservative?With just days to go before the country goes to the polls, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are ramping up their efforts to deliver a victory for their parties. The Conservatives have attempted to make the campaign about the Prime Minister's approach to Brexit and to insist she is better placed than Labour to secure a good deal from the EU.

Why should I vote Labour?The IndependentThe personality politics of Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May aside, these are policies the Labour Party has promised to pursue in office. The party would tell you that if you want to tuition fees abolished, train companies nationalised and to at least keep open the possibility of staying in the single market, then you should vote Labour, rather than the Conservatives.

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 19:42

The proportion of women standing as candidates is the highest on record.

Just under a third of candidates - or 29 per cent - are candidates are women, according to figures compiled by The Telegraph.

Labour fielded the most female candidates, with just over 40 per cent, followed by the Greens on just under 35 per cent.

One female candidate in Northern Ireland, the Alliance party's West Belfast candidate Sorcha Eastwood, turned up to the polling station in her wedding dress with her new husband in tow to vote.

Ms Eastwood, who has also spent the last few weeks in hospital after being beaten by a dog, said she wanted to send a message to women that they can get involved in politics.

She said: "It's been a lot to do and a lot to take in but my family have been absolutely fantastic and my husband Dale has been absolutely fantastic and so supportive throughout the whole process".

"I hope it sends a strong signal to women out there that they can do it, they can get involved in politics."

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 20:00

All you ever wanted to know about British election exit pollsNational exit polls have been used to predict the results of British general elections for forty years. In the October 1974 election, the BBC commissioned Louis Harris to conduct their exit poll and ITN used ORC. In 1979, ITN persisted with ORC but the BBC abandoned an exit poll in favour of a “poll of polls” which they used to predict the result. In both 1983 and 1987, BBC seat prediction was based on a national opinion poll conducted by Gallup.

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 20:03

Meanwhile, over in Northern Ireland:

Voter turnout across Northern Ireland has been reportedly steady through General Election day despite inclement weather sweeping large parts of the region.

With two hours to go before the polls close, voters were continuing to brave the rain to cast their ballots.The poor conditions have placed a question mark over whether the relatively high turnout of 64.8 per cent in March's Assembly election will be replicated.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster avoid the rain as she voted near her home in Brookeborough, Co Fermanagh, early this morning, while Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill marked her ballot paper close to her home village of Clonoe in Co Tyrone.

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann voted in Kells, Co Antrim, with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood and Alliance leader Naomi Long voting in Londonderry and Belfast respectively.

The 1,380 polling stations located in 619 voting centres across the region, including one on the remote off shore island of Rathlin, will remain open until 10pm.

The election is the seventh time voters have cast a ballot in Northern Ireland in three years.

Election fatigue has been one of the explanations offered for what was a low-key campaign in the region.

The poll comes just three months after the snap Assembly election triggered by the collapse of powersharing.

Since 2014, there has also been another general and Assembly election, a European election, a local government election and the EU referendum.

Many in the region believe the snap general election is an unwelcome distraction from the attempts to restore Stormont.

The country has been without a functioning government since Sinn Fein withdrew from the powersharing agreement in March over First Minister Arlene Foster's refusal to resign for her part in a financial scandal.

Lizzie Dearden8 June 2017 20:25