UK Elections 2017 Results: Who Will Be Next Prime Minister As Exit Polls Predict Hung Parliament

UPDATE: 5:38 a.m. EDT:

With the final results of the exit polls pouring in from all across the U.K., 649 of 650 seats have been declared. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party has secured 318 seats, while Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party won 261 seats. Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party has 35 seats while Tim Farron’s Liberal Democrat Party has 12 seats, followed by Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party having 10 seats.

No party can form the government due to not having a majority under the 'First-past-the-post' system. However, May is planning to visit Buckingham Palace, England, at 8: 30 a.m. EDT to seek permission from the Queen to form a minority government, Downing Street said, according to the Telegraph.

Original Story:

While the 2017 British general election results have been pouring in from all across the U.K., exit polls suggest Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party might lose its parliamentary majority, a CNN report stated.

It might be embarrassing to May if she does not emerge the clear majority winner after she announced the snap election in April stating her decision was based on Westminster's response to Article 50 being triggered, the Brexit mechanism for the U.K. to split from the European Union.

Read: UK Elections 2017: Theresa May Wants To Work With Donald Trump, But She Could Lose

The exit polls so far show the Conservative Party has secured 310 seats, while Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party won 260 seats. Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party has 34 seats while Tim Farron’s Liberal Democrat Party has 12 seats, followed by Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party having 10 seats.

With no clear winner emerging, a disappointed May said the country needs stability. “At this time, more than anything else this country needs a period of stability,” May said after winning the seat of Maidenhead, near London.

“If ... 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,” she added, Reuters reported.

While Conservatives remain at the risk of losing their majority, the BBC pointed towards the possibility of a hung parliament. When no single political party manages to get enough seats to form a majority on its own, parliament is said to be ‘hung.’

Even if a ‘hung parliament’ situation arises, the Conservative Party will remain in office and May will still be in Downing Street — until it is decided who will form a new government or if she were to resign.

Apart from the BBC, Sky News predicted May would win around 315 of the 650 seats, while also calling the possibility of a 'hung' parliament.

After winning a seat in north London, Jeremy Corbyn said May’s attempt to score a majority had backfired. “The mandate she's got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that's enough to go, actually, and make way for a government that will be truly representative of all of the people of this country,” he said.

If the Conservative Party falls short of a majority, they could possibly turn to Northern Ireland’s DUP for a possible alliance, which has secured 10 seats, a Reuters report stated.

The outcome of the exit polls also resulted in the British pound tumbling 1.6 percent to value at $1.27, CNN reported. It had been trading above $1.29 on Thursday. The pound also registered a similar fall against the Euro.

“On balance, the financial markets and the private sector would have preferred a Conservative majority to a Labour majority ... and they definitely prefer stability to instability,” Tony Travers, director of the Institute of Public Affairs at the London School of Economics said. “What this result suggests, if it holds, is that there will be some instability and it will be hard for the British government to negotiate on Brexit.”