Election 2017 live updates: Theresa May claims Conservative government supported by DUP will provide 'certainty'

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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:

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Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 19:39

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Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 19:45

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A young woman says she is "absolutely petrified" about what the DUP's proposed deal with the Conservatives will mean for Britain given their stances on same-sex marriage and climate change.

Chris Grayling says: "Parties work together often disagreeing significantly about issues that are important to one or the other. Sinn Fein and the DUP worked side-by-side in Northern Ireland. We worked with the Liberal Democrats for five years. We didn't always agree with each other.

"I fundamentally disagree with the DUP about same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is now part of the way of life in England, Wales and Scotland."

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 20:56

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Theresa May needs to face reality after the general election resultThroughout the election campaign, Theresa May seemed reliant on banalities. Her speeches, often delivered to small, partisan audiences, were peppered with facile mantras – “strong and stable” overtaking “Brexit means Brexit” as the most tired phrase in Britain. Plainly she believed it would be enough to win the landslide she must have expected in April when she decided to go to the polls.

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 20:58

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Chris Grayling says he agrees with Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson on having an "open Brexit" rather than a "closed" one, following the election result.

He said: "I did not campaign to leave the European Union for this country to become closed-door, erect barricades at Dover, turn itself off from the world. What I want us to be is an outward-facing, globally focused nation."

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:02

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Final result of the election: Labour have won Kensington by just 20 votes, it has been reported.

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:03

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Labour wins Kensington seat for first time everThe IndependentLabour have won in Kensington for the first time in the constituency's history. After multiple recounts, the result has finally been declared after Emma Dent Coad won the seat by just 20 votes. More follows... More follows…

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:06

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"Why are Labour happy about losing another election?" asks an audience member.

Shami Chakrabarti: "We're clearly not happy about losing an election. But goodness me, people in this country have shown an appetite for change.

"I personally think that something quite extraordinary happened over the past six, seven weeks, when you had all the commentariat and Theresa May and her colleagues completely dismissing Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, the whole party.

"Look what happened." We got some fair coverage in the broadcast media."

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:09

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Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:10

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Alastair Campbell says he believes the "big thing that replaced Brexit at the heart of this campaign" was that "people are sick to death of austerity and being told by the Tories there is no other way".

Lizzie Dearden9 June 2017 21:13

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