General Election 2017: Exit poll indicates hung parliament as Conservatives set to fall short of majority victory

Chloe Chaplain8 June 2017
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Theresa May's is set to fall short of an overall majority and Britain's next Government could be a hung parliament, according to the 2017 election exit poll.

Surveys of thousands of people at polling stations across the UK suggest the Conservative party will win 314 seats in Parliament.

This is short of the 326 needed for a Commons majority and suggests Mrs May's snap election gamble may not have paid off as she had hoped.

Evening Standard editor George Osborne, speaking on ITV, described the poll as "completely catastrophic" for Mrs May.

Election night: Counting underway at Methodist Central Hall
Pete Maclaine

The results, released after voting ended at 10pm, indicate Labour will win 266 seats.

Liberal Democrats are predicted to win 14 seats. The SNP are set to see a huge drop in the number of seats they hold, falling from 54 to 34.

Ukip are not predicted to win any seats.

A hung parliament would mean the existing government remains in power during a period of negotiation where they attempt to form a coalition.

If the incumbent party cannot command a majority or form a coalition, they could resign from government - paving way for the leader of the largest opposition party to try to form a government.

However in this election, a hung parliament and coalition government would be among the worst options for Mrs May, who had hoped for an overall majority to improve her Brexit mandate.

'Knife-edge': Jeremy Corbyn leaving a polling station after casting his vote this morning
AFP

Mr Osborne, the former MP for Tatton, said: "It is early days, it's a poll, if the poll is anything like accurate this is completely catastrophic for the Conservatives and for Theresa May.

"It's difficult to see, if these numbers are right, how they would put together the coalition to remain in office.

"But equally it's quite difficult to see how Labour could put together a coalition. It's on a real knife-edge."

Count rivals: Sunderland were unable to beat Newcastle to declare the first seat
Getty Images

But Mr Osborne added that he "can't see" the Liberal Democrat party entering into a coalition with the Tories.

"They were badly burnt last time," he said, referring to the 2010 coalition government. "And they would want to commit to a second referendum."

Nick Clegg said of the exit poll: "I'm not a number cruncher but I have seen a real uptick, possibly a surge in the Labour vote.

The UK could be facing a hung parliament, according to the General Election exit poll
PA

"The Conservatives were treating it [this election] like something close to a coronation but it's now going to be a much more closely fought contest.

"Tim Farron has been very clear [there will be no coalition].

"The approach of hard brexit taken by Theresa May means there is no meeting point between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats."

Poll: The results suggest no party will win a clear majority
Amer Ghazzal/REX

"There is absolutely no way the Lib Dems will dignify that headlong rush."

Echoing his comments, former Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell said the poll results showed Mrs May's Brexit strategy had failed and insisted his party would be reluctant to make deals with other parties.

He told BBC News: "Tim Farron made it very clear, he said no pact, no deal, no coalition.

"We've had our fingers burned by coalition, I don't need to tell you that, so I find it very difficult to see how Tim Farron would go back on what he has already said and indeed to persuade the membership of the Lib Dems that a coalition was a good idea from our point of view."

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry told Sky News Labour was in for a "great result" and added that Mrs May should "consider her position" as she will have "manifestly failed" if the exit poll turns out to be correct.

General Election Polling Day 2017 - In pictures

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On what Labour would do, she said: "We will see what happens next but if the Labour Party is called on to provide the next government, we will do so and do it in a unified way under a popular manifesto... with a leader who is strong."

In 2015 the exit poll correctly predicted the majority win for David Cameron’s Conservative party and the poll is usually a correct measure of the final result in an election.

The only example of genuine exit polls being wrong came in 1992, when all three broadcasters put the Conservatives and Labour on about 300 seats each, well short of an overall majority.

Nevertheless, hopeful parliamentary candidates around the country will have to wait for the votes to be counted before the results are announced for certain.

Newcastle Central beat Sunderland to become the first seat to declare at 11pm with Labour candidate Chi Onwurah winning.

Sunderland declared its first result minutes later, with Labour candidate Bridget Phillipson re-elected to the seat of Houghton and Sunderland South.

The first London seat set to declare its winner is Battersea at about 1am and the remaining results will come in thick and fast up to 6am, with a handful declaring the winner a lunchtime on Friday.

At the Brentford and Isleworth count in Hounslow Civic Centre, the shock exit poll flashed up on screen just as one Conservative election agent made her way into the counting hall.

“I’ve got heart palpitations,” she said.

The seat is a major Tory target in London, where Ruth Cadbury is defending a slim majority of 465 against previous Conservative incumbent Mary Macleod.

A Labour agent decided to comment on the poll give his opinion as he rushed into the hall.

As the poll was announced, the pound plummeted against the dollar and the euro.

Sterling fell over 1.5 per cent to 1.27 US dollars and over 1 per cent to 1.13 euros.

Around 46.9 million people are entitled to vote in the election, which was proceeded by three terror attacks across the country - leading to fears it may have had to be delayed.

Professor Philip Cowley, of Queen Mary University of London, said it was difficult to assess what effect the terror attacks in London and Manchester made.

“My suspicion is that they made almost no difference, apart from breaking the campaign up and reminding us that there are more important things in life than elections,” he said.

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