United Kingdom's Prime Minister Theresa May will not resign after she faced a major setback in Britain's general elections held on Thursday, June 8, according to Associate Press reports. The news comes after May's statement in which she had stated that it was her party's responsibility to now try and ensure the country's stability ahead of Brexit talks.
May took a huge gamble a few months ago by announcing a snap election despite the Conservatives having a majority in the House, to bring herself a bigger parliamentary majority. However, the Prime Minister finds herself in a soup as the election has delivered a hung parliament, with the Conservatives forecast to lose at least 12 seats.
The election result is a complete turnaround from what the polls were suggesting about Conservatives early in the campaign. The early polls had suggested that the Torries may secure as many as 100 seats in the House.
With 646 of the 650 seats declared, May's Conservative party has secured a total of 315 seats, while her close rival Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party has clinched a significant number of 261 seats in the house. Nicola Stugeon's Scottish National Party (SNP) follows Labour with 35 seats, followed by Tim Farron's Liberal Democratic party which won 12 seats in the Parliament. While Arlene Foster' Democratic Unionist Party secured a total of 10 seats.
The reports of May staying on as the Prime Minister comes shortly after calls from major Labour and Tory figures asking her to resign from the post after the setback, with many blaming her poor campaign as the reason for the Conservatives' fall.
PM May's decision to stay was confirmed after reports emerged that she could form a coalition with Northern Ireland's DUP to create a miniscule parliamentary majority.
May, in a speech after she was re-elected as MP for Maindenhead, said, "At this time, more than anything else, this country needs a period of stability."
"If, as the indications have shown and if this is correct, the Conservative Party has won the most seats and probably the most votes, then it will be incumbent on us to ensure that we have that period of stability and that is exactly what we will do."
