we'll have the full result, with the conservatives on 318, labour on 262, and both parties having increased their share of the vote. in northern ireland, the democratic unionist party, with ten seats, agreed to try to help the conservatives to stay in power. the prime minister has spoken to me this morning, and we will enter discussions with the conservatives, to explore how it might be possible to bring stability to our nation. in scotland, a challenging night for the snp. they lost a third of their seats. the former leader alex salmond was among those defeated. after a collapse in ukip‘s share of the vote, and no mps, the party leader paul nuttall resigned. and with just ten days to the start of the brexit talks, we'll be reporting on the far—reaching implications for the future of the united kingdom. more news and analysis throughout the day. we will have reaction from around the uk, europe and the rest of the world to the result. good evening from downing street, where theresa may is trying to construct a new government and face the challenge of the imminent brexit process, having lost her majority in the house of commons, while labour made unexpected gains. the conservatives emerged from yesterday's election as the largest party, but with no parliamentary majority, and they're hoping to rely on northern ireland's democratic unionists to stay in power. the prime minister said she felt sorry for colleagues who lost their seats, and said she would reflect on the lessons. so this is the final outcome. the conservatives have 318 seats, eight short of a majority. labour has 262, the snp 35, the liberal democrats 12, the democratic unionist party ten, and plaid cymru four. the conservatives lost 13 seats overall. they'd been expecting big gains. labour added 30, while the snp lost 21. so theresa may is still prime minister, but there are questions about the viability of this new administration. in this extended programme, we'll have the results, reaction and analysis, and we'll consider the implications both for brexit and for scottish independence. first our political editor laura kuenssberg reports on a night and day of intense political drama. is this strong and stable, prime minister? she who dares doesn't always win. the most votes, the most seats, but under this stinging glare, no iron gates nor police protection can shield theresa may from the accusation she looks a political loser. the trappings of power, the visit to the palace, help from northern irish mps mean she can gather enough support to stay on. but having believed herself to be on the brink of a sizeable majority, going backwards seems like defeat. i have just been to see her majesty the queen and i will now form a government. a government that can provide certainty and lead britain forward at this critical time for our country. this government will guide the country through the crucial brexit talks that begin injust ten days. not a single mention of the result. what the country needs more than ever is certainty and having secured the largest number of votes and the greatest number of seats in the general election, it is clear that only the conservative and unionist party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the house of commons. this will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful brexit deal that works for everyone in this country, securing a new partnership with the eu which guarantees our long—term prosperity. that's what people voted for last june. that's what we will deliver. now, let's get to work. so theresa may walks back into number ten still prime minister but damaged, diminished, a smallerfigure. thank you very much! jeremy corbyn is not the victor. labour lost as badly as they did in 2010. but he looks it. behind by nearly 60 seats, but so much further on than anyone expected. many young voters' dreams, the tories‘ nightmare. incredible result for the labour party because people voted for hope. young people and old people all came together yesterday. very high turnout, huge increase in the labour vote and they did it because they want to see things done differently and they want hope in their lives. coffee for tory staffers this morning instead of celebratory champagne. the loss of so many seats burst their balloons. are you stepping down, mrs may? traditional election rules showed few clues to theresa may's retreat. boris, does your party need a new leader? should it be you? by morning, words in the wind of ministers who might think of their own manoeuvres. because what was surprise at the start... and what we're saying is the conservatives are the largest party. note that they don't have an overall majority at this stage. ..gradually, seat after seat, was glorious shock for labour. loss after loss for the conservatives. no obvious pattern or geography to start with. but a hung parliament. # we'll keep the red flag flying here...# with no overall winner becoming clear. we cannot see any way at all that the conservatives can get to the 326 mark and we think it's pretty clear that there is going to be a hung parliament. was he grabbing a victory of sorts? well, over the sceptics in his party... politics isn't going back into the box where it was before. what had seemed her unassailable lead at the startjust melted away. personal as well as political loss written all over her face. as we ran this campaign, we set out to consider the issues that are the key priorities for the british people. the tories care about winning. it wasn't long for the first call for her to go. she's a very talented woman and she doesn't shy from difficult decisions, but she now has to obviously consider her position. but no others publiclyjoined. discipline perhaps? or some cheer from tories‘ big wins in scotland, a separate campaign fought with 13 seats won, levels of support not seen for years. the tories and labour in scotland dragged the snp down from their high point. the bubble pricked even for alex salmond. other parties took heavy fire. the lib dems adding seats but losing their biggest household name, nick clegg, perhaps loved and loathed. nuttall, paul andrew, ukip. .. and in reverse, another ukip leader took his leave. no party though can govern alone. meet the ten—strong democratic unionist party, northern irish mps who will prop theresa may up. the prime minister has spoken with me this morning and we will enter discussions with the conservatives to explore how it may be possible to bring stability to our nation. 0thers, though, calling for her to go. we will work with others if it is at all possible to keep the tories out of government. she put her party before her country, she has been found out. she should be ashamed. it's an act the westminster circus did not expect. i think labour mps have been shocked by how well we've done. a lot of them will recognise jeremy's here and will take us into the next election and they will start to work with him. i think we've witnessed a political earthquake and i am going to be the first or second or third person to say that jeremy has had a character explosion. you must accept, though, that a hung parliament makes the government less stable, less strong. i accept this isn't the result we wanted. it's not a great result. i'm not here sugar—coating this view. i'm telling you that of the options, once the people have decided at the ballot box, this is the clear one that gives the country certainty. but only late this afternoon did the prime minister acknowledge that anything had gone wrong. i had wanted to achieve a larger majority, but that was not the result that we secured and i'm sorry for all those candidates and hard—working party workers who weren't successful. she won more votes, more seats, she keeps this address, but her gamble failed. the electorate can damn with faint praise. laura keunssberg, bbc news, downing street. seven weeks ago, the prime minister stood here in downing street and insisted she needed a strong electoral mandate to underpin the brexit negotiations. and in the early stages of the campaign there was no suggestion in surveys of public opinion that the political gamble would not pay off. but the result, when all the votes were counted, was the disappearance overnight of mrs may's majority, and a hung parliament, despite an increase in the conservative share of the vote. 0ur deputy political editor john pienaar takes a closer look at mrs may's gamble and how it failed. who expected to hear or tell this tale today? the story of a leader and her party that felt unstoppable, at times seemed lost. then ended up mocked by enemies, and seen by the rest as having gone from strong and stable to weak and wobbly. theresa may, top of her party, but no longer in charge. there had been a turning point. it was awful. the campaign was going swimmingly well until we launched our own manifesto, and did the triple assault on our core vote — the elderly. mrs may never looked like stumbling at the start. it was all about her, britain's most trusted leader — most of all by older voters. we will deliver for britain. but a new social care policy left thousands, including natural conservative supporters, fearing their family homes might go to pay care bills after they had gone. that forced a u—turn — a u—turn she unconvincingly tried to deny. nothing has changed. nothing has changed! we are offering a long—term solution for the sustainability of social care for the future. but no one really believed it. are you embarrassed by this u—turn, prime minister? tory poll ratings suffered. furious tories blamed her advisers, and theresa may's way of relying on them, fiona hill and nick timoney, who is said to have come up with the vote loser of a planned. will he last? through the campaign, tv and radio appearances were dominated by a handful of trusted administers. one in particular, who was sent to debate when her boss said no. theresa may may not be here, but i hope to make a good fist of it. today, the focus is on tories who want more of a role, and a more powerful cabinet as a whole. life is not going to be easy in future. would a bit more cabinet discussion help? there have been a lot of complaints, a lot of feeling that things have been decided by a small group of people, ministers have not been consulted. i think the prime minister would be wise to pay attention to this feeling that ministers need to be included in all decisions. you know, any decision that affects their department, it is absurd they are not consulted. theresa may's credit with voters seemed to fade the longer the campaign went on. once, when she was defending tory spending plans. in the labour party manifesto, we know the figures don't add up. what is important... what about your own figures? let the prime minister answer. two terrorist attacks made this an election like no other. mrs may claimed to be the leader to keep britain safe, but was challenged time and again about police cuts. austerity was costing them support. jeremy corbyn tapped into the feeling of anti—austerity in the country, and i picked that up on the doorstep. people were tiring of austerity and wanted something different. it is too late for theresa may to correct the failures of her campaign, but there is time to pay the price as she plans a parliamentary programme, knowing that anything that upsets mps risks a humiliating defeat. she had hoped to win freedom on brexit but the danger now is that her hands may be tied. the prime minister's big gamble failed. today, she has spoken of five more years in office but when you are under this kind of pressure, time can fly quickly between one crisis and the next. john pienaar, bbc news, westminster. labour gained 30 seats last night across britain, forcing many ofjeremy corbyn‘s opponents in the party to admit they had underestimated him and his ability to enthuse younger voters. mr corbyn says it was an "incredible result" for his party. vicki young looks at how and where those labour gains were achieved. # 0h, jeremy corbyn! it wasn't victory, but to jeremy corbyn and his most ardent fans, it felt almost as sweet. many had written him off. instead, he's delivered labour's largest increase in the share of the vote since the war. his team say he offered voters hope, a positive vision. they want jeremy's slogan when he stood as leader — straight—talking, honest politics. that's what they want, they want someone to come forward and say, this is what i believe in, this is what i want to implement and this is what i'm going to do. and they support that type of politics. it was exactly what these huge, enthusiastic crowds wanted. all over the country, mr corbyn took his message. 0ur manifesto offers something very, very different. he promised higher pay, more free childcare, to scrap tuition fees, paid for by higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy. and when the results rolled in, it seemed that younger voters were behind the labour surge. rosemary claire duffield is duly elected... the university city of canterbury, a seat which had been held by the conservatives for 100 years, now labour. some think their success stemmed from videos on social media, which had tens of millions of views and shares. i think a lot of young people, as well, don't necessarily read all the newspapers that were kind of doing their smear campaign againstjeremy corbyn, so i think people underestimated actually how effective sharing stories and photographs, how effective that was going to be. i paid the university fees, and for people it is just so refreshing to see somebody stick to his word. what do you think about his image and the campaign he ran? i think he did well. i mean, he did turn up to all the debates and stuff. theresa may didn't. ijust think that people are quite interested in his kind of antiestablishment rhetoric and how he has kind of always sat on the backbenches and just been fighting for small people, for the little man, for 30—odd years. insiders here at labour hq say this result was absolutely a victory forjeremy corbyn. they say he enthused voters, especially the young, by offering clear, popular policies. the question now is whether labour mps will finally accept his leadership. last year, mr corbyn was challenged for the top job. today, his former rival was eating humble pie. well, i was clearly wrong in feeling that jeremy wouldn't be able to do this well, and i think he has proved me wrong and lots of people wrong, and i take my hat off to him. i don't know whatjeremy‘s got, but if we could bottle it and drink it, we'd all be doing very well. 0thers praise mr corbyn‘s performance but point out that power is still some way off. we can win over former conservative voters, but we need to understand why, despite the fact that they often identify with our values, they didn't vote for us this time. and so, that's not a negative process, it's a positive process, building on the leap forward that we've had at this general election. labour party candidate, 16,333 votes... and tonight, the final result of the 2017 election. labour took kensington from the conservatives byjust 20 votes. labour has now lost three general elections in a row. we are just walking down the street to our home now. thank you, everybody, so much for coming. but the infighting of the past two years is forgotten, for now. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. halifax was one of the key marginal seats in this election, a labour seat with a majority of just 428. it was high on the conservative target list, and theresa may unveiled her manifesto there. but the voters of halifax returned a labour mp to westminster, with a substantially increased majority of more than 5000. our special correspondent lucy manning has been speaking to voters about the issues that mattered to them. there was trouble at the mill for theresa may. dean clough mill in halifax was where she came to unveil her manifesto last month. jordan and derrin work for a business in the now converted factory. jordan became a labour convert. 0riginally i was going to vote for conservative, like i did in 2010. i did change my mind probably about half way through this campaign, and that was just because the amount of times theresa may has changed her mind on certain things, her own policies, it's not someone who i wanted negotiating brexit. and traditional labour voters here didn't deserve the party. here didn't desert the party. she was saying she was offering strong and stable leadership, but she didn't turn up for debate, which i didn't think was... it's like a job interview, really, a debate. launching the manifesto, halifax looked eminently winnable. the plan was it would be a symbol of tory inroads in yorkshire. let us all go forward together. the room looks a little different now from when theresa may was here to launch her manifesto. but three long weeks later, so does her position. that manifesto with the so—called dementia tax served only to help alienate some of the people who were thinking about switching to the tories. looking around the mill‘s gallery, sefora was put off by the prime minister's plans to cut school lunches and buy one of her rare tv grillings. i was influenced by the question time debate, in which one of the nurses had asked theresa may a question regarding the pay rise that hasn't happened. and theresa may to that question responded saying that we have no money, and there is no money tree, so nothing can happen. even those who voted tory thought mrs may's campaign wasn't heading in the right direction. she could have followed jeremy corbyn's lead and stood outside and talk to everybody. i think she would have gained more respect then. some tactical voting helped labour, as did a ukip vote that didn't go all the tory‘s way. we didn't see itjust automatically going to the conservatives yesterday. a much more mixed picture, i think we did ourselves proud. people coming back to us. the conservatives brought the manifesto to halifax, but the town read it and said no. lucy manning, bbc news, halifax. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg joins me now in downing street. earlier today the prime minister was here, you were listening to her, and she talked about being in power for five years. is that credible? it's certainly optimistic, but tonight it seems ambitious for theresa may to hope she will still be here living above the shop in downing street in five years' time. i think there is consensus among the tories today, after dramatic events overnight, their expectations so dashed that today isn't in today, tomorrow will not be the day, but in terms of rallying around her and creating some sense of pores and stability as the leader of the largest party with the leader of the largest party with the largest number of seats, she has the largest number of seats, she has the right, supported by colleagues, to stay on and try to form the government. in normal times, she would probably be out the door by 110w. would probably be out the door by now. the tories care about power and ruthless when it comes to readers who look like losers. but these are not normal times. —— leaders who look. the brexit negotiations are upon us. there is a window where theresa may has been given a chance to steady the ship, but i have to say senior conservatives say it is not tenable to imagine her staying in the medium term, and the medium term could feel like quite a short period of time. she has a queen's speech to get through on the 19th of june and shortly after that the first european summit. it could be an eventful few weeks. how does her position contrast with jeremy corbyn? a total contrast, it's on its head. expectations for him at the beginning of the campaign were rock bottom and now he has soared over those expectations. what happened over the last 2a hours, putting together a coalition of old labour voters, those cross about the iraq war, younger voters voting for the first time, stitching together a coalition with the greens and the lib dems, and it could make inroads with the broader electorate. that has insulated him. he has relished every moment of the campaign, because he has always been a campaign. whether or not when they get back to the day to day ground of the house of commons, the positivity around his leadership will remain, that's a different question. but the experience for him of this campaign has been to strengthen his leadership, no doubt about that. has been to strengthen his leadership, no doubt about thatm a while we will be back to talk about the challenges facing theresa may and the brexit process. for now, thank you. as we heard, the politics of northern ireland are now even more significant than usual at westminster. the prime minister's decision to rely on the support of the democratic unionist party has far—reaching implications, not only for the brexit process, but also for the future of devolved government in northern ireland. the dup won ten of northern ireland's 18 seats. sinn fein gained three and now have seven. the sdlp and the ulster unionist party lost all their mps. 0ur ireland correspondent chris bucklerjoins us from stormont. the dup tends to vote with the conservatives, but now the tories need their support in parliament. this election result has given an unexpected influence. power—sharing here at stormont might have collapsed months ago, but their new position as kingmakers and deal brea kers position as kingmakers and deal breakers at westminster has given them something of a say in the uk government. if last night's count revealed any winner, it was the democratic unionist party. the dup now hold more than half of northern ireland's seats at westminster. and their ten mps could offer theresa may what she wanted most from this election — some stability. although arlene foster has indicated that will come at a price. what we want to see happening is a recognition of the particular circumstances of northern ireland, recognising our history and our geography. we've always said we want the best deal for northern ireland and that's certainly what we will be pushing for. along with money for northern ireland's economy, the dup is thought to want influence in the upcoming brexit negotiations. questions about what will happen to northern ireland's land border with the republic have become a major concern. although the party has always seen itself as british rather than european. we say never! founded by the protestant preacher ian paisley, the dup‘s religious roots are deeply important. stormont, stormont, hear us clear. it's clashed with campaigners over its decision to block the introduction of same—sex marriage in northern ireland. the other big beasts of politics here are sinn fein. they won seven seats, but as irish republicans, they won't sit in a british parliament, actually helping mrs may by reducing the numbers she needs for a majority. remember, history will show that alliances between ulster unionism and british unionism has always ended in tears. what might bring stability to westminster could end up causing real problems here at stormont. power—sharing collapsed at the start of this year and talks to try to restore it had been organised by theresa may's government. but if they are being propped up by the dup, it's difficult to see how sinn fein can accept them as honest brokers in those negotiations. among those concerned is jonathan powell. as tony blair's chief of staff, he helped negotiate the good friday peace agreement, and he is warning that decades of progress could be undone. i don't think it's worth undermining everything we have achieved in northern ireland. there's a reason northern ireland is no longer on our news pages. do we really want to put it back there? if we do this, we stand the risk of doing so. arlene foster and theresa may both have much to gain from this friendship. but it is likely to be tested. chris buckler, bbc news, belfast. in scotland, it was a challenging night for the scottish national party, which lost a third of its seats at westminster. they ended the night with 35 seats — the tories have 13, labour seven and the lib dems four. the snp‘s former leader and former first minister, alex salmond, lost his seat to the conservatives, as did the party's westminster leader angus robertson. 0ur scotland editor sarah smith reports on what happened in the scottish constituencies. her report contains some flashing images. struggling to put on a brave face today, nicola sturgeon knows her demand for another scottish referendum hasjust been rejected by scotland's voters. in scotland, the snp won this election. we have more seats than all of the other parties combined. however, it is an inescapable fact that we also suffered some bitterly disappointing losses last night. do you accept this result means there will not be a second referendum on independence any time soon? undoubtedly, the issue of an independence referendum was a factor in this election result but i think there were other factors as well. so i will reflect on that and come to considered judgments. as i say, i will say more about that in days to come. this is where, just three months ago, nicola sturgeon confidently demanded the right to have another referendum on scottish independence. that now looks like a significant mistake. she admits it is one reason why her party suffered significant losses, and now there seems almost no chance she will get that independence vote. douglas ross, scottish conservative and unionist... seeing the snp‘s westminster leader, angus robertson, unseated, was one of the night's more dramatic moments. significant tory gains across scotland, 12 new seats, have helped keep theresa may in downing street tonight, and they are convinced it was their promise to block another referendum that created those victories. nobody, not me, not anyone, is expecting the snp to give up on independence. that is what it believes, and it is a perfectly honourable position to take. but what people do expect is that right now the snp gives scotland a break. simply put, scotland has had its fill. scottish labour are also claiming victory of a sort. now with seven mps, up from just one, they are back from the brink of extinction, saved by a corbyn surge, despite the scottish leadership‘s opposition to him. the success of our results is a combined message of being a pro—union party, talking up the benefits of the united kingdom but also showing how we can do things differently, how to reject austerity and build a better future for the many. the lib dems got their scottish tally up to four, also by opposing another referendum. glasgow, last weekend, saw a huge pro—independence march. passionate yes voters, convinced independence is practically inevitable. now it looks like they will have to wait a lot longer before they get the chance to try again. tonight, it has become clear that ruth davidson is not entirely co mforta ble ruth davidson is not entirely comfortable with the alliance with the dup and their opposition to same—sex marriage. she is engaged to herfemale same—sex marriage. she is engaged to her female partner same—sex marriage. she is engaged to herfemale partner and same—sex marriage. she is engaged to her female partner and she says she has talked with theresa may to seek a categorical assurance that there will be no dilutions of rights in britain, and she says the prime minister assured her she would seek to advance equal rights in northern ireland. thank you, sarah smith. in wales, the labour party had a strong night, taking back a number of seats from the conservatives they ended up with 28 seats, while the conservatives won eight, and plaid cymru won four. the liberal democrats lost their only welsh mp. the conservatives had initially hoped to make gains, especially in those areas which voted strongly to leave the eu. 0ur wales correspondent sian lloyd has more details. in gower this morning, the smiles of welsh labour said it all. the party's leader introducing two of their three new mps here. this seat was one they had been desperate to win back from the conservatives. we were told a few weeks ago that we would struggle in wales, that we would lose seats. he was the man who had led a very separate labour campaign in wales, but today carwyn jones was happy to acknowledge thejeremy corbyn factor in their successes here. we ran a welsh labour campaign in wales in tandem with the campaign across the rest of the uk. we listened, we worked hard, we produced a manifesto that people liked, and of course we saw us gaining seats in wales. labour not only made gains here but increased the size of their majority in many welsh seats. it appears they took votes from ukip that the conservatives had been banking on, and other parties were squeezed. what seems to have happened, quite clearly happened, is that the smaller parties, that company and the liberal democrats, have faded away, and that centre—left vote in wales has gone and sat firmly in the labour column. plaid cymru celebrated winning ceredigion. the nationalists took it from the liberal democrats, who no longer have any welsh mps. but it was a mixed night for leanne wood's party. they saw their share of the vote in wales fall overall. it has been a difficult election, yes. certainly it was run between tory, labour, corbyn, may, and it was difficult for us to get in there. it was while walking in snowdonia that theresa may decided she would call a snap election, a decision that cost her party here dear. sian lloyd, bbc news, gower. the leader of ukip, paul nuttall, has resigned after his party failed to win a single seat at westminster. the party's share of the popular vote fell by more than 10%, in sharp contrast to the 4 million votes it won in 2015. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports now on ukip‘s collapse. a brave face but a bruising result. ukip‘s leader came third here in boston and skegness, losing thousands of votes, a picture replicated across the country, prompting this. i am standing down today as the leader of ukip with immediate effect. the party has struggled to find its way since the eu referendum, losing support in droves. but even after quitting, he insists ukip‘s not finished. i believe the worst is over. the party is still on the pitch of british politics. in clacton, voters aren't sure. this was the seat of ukip‘s only mp. last night, their vote plummeted, some supporters switching to the tories because of brexit. ukip done theirjob, if we do get the brexit up and running, which they achieved. more surprising to some, labour gained from the party's collapse too, winning over this couple, who have both voted ukip before. i was labour yesterday and it was basically public services. i didn't feel that voting ukip this time round would have the benefit here. i rather hoped that more ukip would have gone towards labour. it seems many of the party's supporters, even in its strongholds, think the vote to leave the eu meant its job was done. but some say the overall election result and the uncertainty that creates for the brexit process will mean that ukip becomes relevant again. like their former party leader, who hasn't ruled out a return. you know, we are looking potentially at a serious backsliding on brexit, and if that happens, ukip will pick up support again very, very quickly. is there a chance you will go back to ukip as a possible leader? well, i don't want to. i was happy with what i had done but if we do not get the kind of brexit i was expecting us to get and that people want us to get, i would have no choice but to throw myself back into full—time campaigning. but for now, the party has taken a battering, its leader and future in question, its direction unclear. alex forsyth, bbc news, clacton. so let's take a closer look at the stream of results, which started before midnight, and soon pointed the way to an outcome that few had expected. here'sjeremy vine with his guide to all the key numbers, seats and parties. let's look at the changed map of the uk after another absolutely shocking election result. so here, first of all you see the snp‘s yellow in scotland driven back. the scottish nationalists losing more than a third of their seats. if i flash the gains, labour are advancing in places like canterbury here, where they overturned a 10,000 conservative majority. also a bit more liberal democrat orange there, in places like 0xford west and abingdon. so, heart for the liberal democrats. what exactly has happened? well, the conservatives came first. no doubt about that. have a look at the percentages here. 44% to theresa may. but it'sjeremy corbyn's a1% that is remarkable. a close second, it is thought many, many young voters pouring in to support labour. the liberal democrats bumping along on 8%, although they are focusing their vote better this time, winning some more seats. the greens on two, one seat for them, and ukip on 2% is a big part of this story. their vote has crashed since the last general election. look at that, down 11%. it was thought it would go straight to the conservatives, but it surely didn't. labour benefited as well. come in to our house of commons, because this is where all of the action happens now. so the conservatives have 318 mps. they are the largest party but short of the overall majority. you need 326 mps to be able to out vote all the other mps put together. so the tories have a problem here. let's see the opposition benches. labour improved by about 30 seats here, 262. the snp, by contrast, losing more than one third, 35 mps. the liberal democrats have a dozen, the dup, the democratic unionist party in northern ireland have ten. sinn fein with seven, and in wales, plaid cymru have four and the greens keep one, caroline lucas. and the independent is in northern ireland. no ukip mps. for the first time, there are more than 200 female mps in the house of commons. let's go back to the challenge facing the conservatives. they are going to have to have a working relationship with democratic unionist party. they are short by eight, so we bring the democratic unionists in and we put their ten mps on to the government benches. and lo and behold, a majority of six. six is very slender. it's going to be very difficult to govern. they'll have to listen hard to what the party from northern ireland is asking for. and it's embarrassing, humiliating, for the prime minister, theresa may. and you can find out about the result in your constituency by visiting bbc.co.uk/election 2017, and going to the results section where you can put in your postcode to get the details. as we've heard, the gains made by labour across britain may in part have been driven by an increased turnout of younger voters. there's been a greater swing to labour in seats with a higher population of 18 to 2a year—olds. 0ur correspondent elaine dunkley reports on the impact of the youth vote on the last night's results. from grime mcs to nme, youth culture has provided the soundtrack for change in this general election. i am here today to speak tojeremy corbyn. what's going on, man? lovely to see you. thanks for coming along. no, thank you for having me, seriously. i went to derby north. 13,000 18 to 2a—year—olds live here. how excited were you about the election results coming through last night? excited. early indications suggest the youth vote was labour's gain, with their policies to reintroduce housing benefits for under—21s, and the scrapping of tuition fees. i voted forjeremy corbyn because of my future as a primary school teacher. i do feel that children need those opportunities to thrive in school, and without food and daily care, they are not going to thrive, so part of his manifesto was to improve that, so i voted forjeremy corbyn. last year, for the eu referendum, i was just too young to vote. this year gave me a chance to have my say, whereas i felt a bit cheated in the referendum last year. young people are always complaining about how it is the older generation voting, and i think the fact that jeremy corbyn actually targeted students and young people, and stuff like the minimum wage and things like that, it really appealed to us young people. it is believed tojeremy corbyn has mobilised a jilted generation, unable to get on the property ladder and saddled with debt. for many young voters this was notjust about policy. personality also played a big part. femi 0yeniran is an actor, director and activist behind the hashtag grimelicorbyn. the mainstream press, the majority of the tabloids, were deriding corbyn. young people like the underdog. he became like a cult figure. people were wearing t—shirts withjeremy corbyn on it. it's difficult to put an exact figure on it but there is a real sense of an awakening of apathetic young voters, galvanised by jeremy corbyn and the labour party, a generation who want to be heard. elaine dunkley, bbc news. so for the second time in the past three general elections, the united kingdom has a hung parliament. theresa may will form a government with the help of the democratic unionist party. but the process of governing with such a slender majority will be no easy task. our home editor mark easton looks at the challenges presented by a hung parliament, and what the road ahead could look like. the dice were thrown and the 2017 election game just got a whole lot more complicated. without enough tory mps to outvote the rest of the commons, theresa may's decided to try and play on anyway. this board game from the early ‘70s is from an era where britain also saw party leaders trying to run the country without a majority in the house of commons. and then, as now, they faced a choice. a formal coalition with another party, or try to muddle through vote by vote in a minority government. there was a coalition, of course, in 2010, when david cameron negotiated a formal agreement with nick clegg of the liberal democrats. the government's ability to control events was dealt a further blow today... but theresa may's position is more likejohn major in the mid—1990s. his small majority disappeared during the parliament and the fractious politics of the time meant he was forced to act like a minority government for many years. in thejohn major time, we were bringing people in. there was a vote that was won by one vote. people were coming in on stretchers. we could be back to those scenes. former head of the civil service, lord gus o'donnell, worked at the heart of both major's government and cameron's coalition. a coalition is very formal. you have a coalition agreement, they sit down, they talk, they go through the whole programme. come to a minority, it's very much more political deals, made usually in the house of commons. the classic smoke—filled rooms we saw in the 1970s, so it's much more ad hoc. new legislation will be introduced... the queen's speech, the budget, votes of no confidence... the democratic unionists may support theresa may through key votes but everything else will be open to negotiation. civil servants will be urging the prime minister to drop any legislation that might prove difficult to get through. in a minority government, the manifesto is more of a wish list than a promise to the country. minority governments are fragile creatures, as labour's ramsay macdonald found in 192a. his administration survived just nine months. what you would ideally like to do with a minority government is operate for a while, get the confidence of the nation and then try and get another election... another election! brenda's going to be outraged! indeed she is, and i'm sorry brenda. not another one?! newsreel: mr wilson, the first to arrive... harold wilson was one of the last prime ministers to try to run the country with a minority. he had to call another election just six months later. they are rare things. in the game of minority governments, there are rarely any winners. mark easton, bbc news. as we mentioned earlier, mrs may's case for calling an election — when she'd promised not to do so until 2020 — was to boost her majority in parliament and strengthen her hand in the brexit negotiations. so what effect does this outcome have on the government's brexit approach and the all—important timetable? the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, says he's ready for talks to start tomorrow morning. 0ur chief correspondent gavin hewitt has been looking at the impact of the election result on the future of the brexit process. theresa may's authority diminished, just when the start of brexit negotiations are days away. complex negotiations have suddenly become more challenging. i think it has made it more difficult for whoever is going to be negotiating with the european union, because they will look and say, hold on, it wasn't such a clear message from your general election, it's not clear they can get everything through the house of commons, so i suspect the negotiations have become a little bit more tough. some of those who campaigned to leave the eu fear that momentum will be lost. this is the brexit timetable. negotiations begin on june 19th, a week on monday, and have to be completed in two years. the 29th of march 2019 is the leaving date. pro—eu campaigners out today claimed that the election sent a message. what the country has just said is, we do not want a hard brexit, we do not want to leave the single market. it is about going ahead with putting the interests of the country first, finding a package which means the uk is notjumping off a cliff. others are doing that what some call a "hard brexit", which involves leaving the european single market, is now less likely. there is a greater chance we will get a softer brexit than there was before the election. whether we definitely will, we wait and see, because there are many members of the parliamentary conservative party committed to a hard brexit. others were insisting the election result changed nothing. when the european union faces theresa may, or david davis, across the negotiating table, they will be facing the prime minister of the united kingdom and the secretary of state for brexit. and they will deal with them on that basis. so i don't really think that this makes the task more difficult than it otherwise would be. the reaction from europe, a reminder that a clock is ticking — there is no time to lose, we are ready, they said today. i strongly hope that britain will stay ready to open negotiations. as far as the commission is concerned, we can open negotiations tomorrow morning at 9:30am. those who know brussels well say that negotiations will be tough. money is never easy in this sort of discussion. everybody knows that. the fate of people stranded on either side of the new border everybody agrees has to be sorted out as quickly as possible. and then there is ireland. theresa may's motivation in calling this election was to strengthen her hand, to make her less vulnerable to pressure from committed brexiteers within her own party, but with a hung parliament she is now more exposed to trouble from all sides. among those who will expect their voices to be heard are theresa may's new allies, the democratic unionists of northern ireland. the prime minister has promised that brexit negotiations will stick to the existing timetable. and leaving the single market remains the government's position. gavin hewitt, bbc news. 0ur europe editor katya adler is in brussels. what is your reading of the potential impact of this election result on the brexit process? right 110w result on the brexit process? right now there is very little sympathy here for what is seen as theresa may's political own goal. what there is, isa may's political own goal. what there is, is a lot of frustration. we heard from the vice president of european commission today who said that the thing is so often pointed at brussels, that it's so slow moving. but here we are, one year after the eu referendum in the uk and there are still big arguments about whether it should be a hard or soft brexit, staying in the single market or leaving. by comparison, brussels feels very organised. it has spent the last 12 months getting its brexit negotiation ducks in a i’ow. its brexit negotiation ducks in a row. jean—claude juncker has said he's from tomorrow morning. there is a feeling that the ball is now in the uk's court. the eu wants to get on with the problems like the eurozone and migration. they don't have gleeful gloating at theresa may's political woes, because they are worried that a weak prime minister at number ten will make it harder to reach a brexit deal. and they care because whatever is decided will impact on lives, jobs and businesses and politics in the eu as well. we can get some more response now from the financial markets. they famously don't like uncertainty. our business editor simon jack is in the city of london for us. talk us through the response there today. the hung parliament result we got is the kind of certainty the markets famously hate and the pounds took a wobble. this in many ways is the worst possible outcome. they spent valuable weeks of pre—brexit negotiation, prep time spent trying to get a political mandate, a stronger political base that hasn't materialised. having said that, i can tell you that business secretary greg clark has had business leaders and lobby groups in today to listen to what they have to say. many of them said if, and it's a big if given the government's new political chums, if they get wider voices into that debate, for example youth and business, which feels pretty marginalised so far, then it's no bad thing. having said that, many business groups i talked to say we are going into the negotiations with less clear objectives and are less clear game plan and a political foundation that many people think is very much weakened by this election result. simon jack, our business editor with the views from the city of london. tonight, 2a hours after the polls closed across the united kingdom, voters are slowly coming to terms with the features of the new political landscape. 0ur correspondentjon kay talked to voters throughout the day, travelling from dumfries all the way to stroud. here's his report. breakfast time at a truck stop in the scottish borders. news report: theresa may might have to move house... and news is sinking in. it'sjust completely upside down, isn't it? conservatives stacking up seats here, but losing their majority in westminster. he scoffs you look gobsmacked! chaos. that's what we didn't really need. absolutely unbelievable. at the till, lee thinks theresa may should blame herself. she's focused too much and brexit, really. she's been trying to drive that down people's throats, and it's not really worked out for her. but in the kitchen, anne thinks a tory—led coalition could be a good thing right now. the best way to go, to get views from both sides. we head south, across the border, to find out why so many people who voted for brexit last year voted labour this time. crewe in cheshire. i was quite shocked, to be honest. new mum gemma told me the tories just haven't connected with her. they don't really come to places like this and see the actual real life people. i feel they live in a bit of a bubble. news report: theresa may will meet the queen in the next half an hour... crewe has switched from tory to labour, and market trader punchal said the conservatives should have stuck to the issues he cares about. what were you interested in, what do you want to hear about? health, schooling, education. you know? prospects for my kids. i've got two boys, and i don't know where they're going to get a job or anything like that. theresa has shot herself in the foot, actually. because a lot of pensioners have been very unhappy. i've been a staunch supporter of her, but i'm very disappointed. did you vote for her? yes, idid. we carry on down through the midlands. labour has also won constituencies that voted to remain in the eu. like stroud, in rural gloucestershire. this is now one of jeremy corbyn's seats. i think they were resting on their laurels. 0n the village green we meet pippa, a tory voter. but she says labour worked harder to tempt younger voters. they really touched on what affected people, knocked on the doors and said it. whereas i don't think the conservatives put enough into that. he feels like somebody you can actually believe in. butjim told me he was simply more impressed withjeremy corbyn than by theresa may. i wouldn't trust her as far as i could throw her. i really wouldn't. but you'd trust him, corbyn? i think so, yeah. i'd certainly give him a chance. so, hundreds of miles today, politics in flux, but life rolling on. jon kay, bbc news. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg is with me. can we begin to describe the scale of the challenge mrs may faces?|j think of the challenge mrs may faces?” think it will be extremely difficult. this election was her risk and it backfired. it was meant to produce, dare i say, a more strong and stable government. instead she has ended up with something much weaker, with her guilty for taking the risk and failing to do it, but also with her fundamentally weaken. 0ne minister said to me earlier tonight that maybe in time they will rally around theresa may. the tories like being in power and maybe they will stick together, but that is not certain at all. more broadly, i think we have seen all. more broadly, i think we have seenin all. more broadly, i think we have seen in the last 2a hours, a return, as expected last week, to the more traditional 2—party system, especially in england, the red and blue. although the bits of the map not necessarily popping up with those colours where you would expect. a lot of unexpected results overnight and also a lot of seats that were extremely close. that suggests in a way that we have seen something again much more volatile. a month ago in the local elections the tories romped home. we saw a com pletely the tories romped home. we saw a completely different kind of result, it was a different election of course, but it suggests to me the electorate is still very fluid and changeable. 0ne electorate is still very fluid and changeable. one big trend that could have an impact in the years to come, we saw almost a whole new generation of voters going to the ballot box for the first time in far greater numbers than we have seen for a long time. that could, if it sticks, have very big implications for all the political parties in terms of the recipe of where they build their support in future. certainly for theresa may, this was nothing less than a political disaster. her future is very uncertain. there won't be very many people resting easyin won't be very many people resting easy in downing street tonight. laura kuenssberg, thank you very much from downing street. that's it from the bbc team here in downing street. in a moment the news where you are, but we'll leave you with some of the enduring sights and sounds of the past 2a hours, as the voters of britain refused to give theresa may the big majority she sought, and delivered a hung parliament with far—reaching consequences for the months and years ahead. goodnight. big ben tolls. and what we are saying is the conservatives are the largest party, note they don't have an overall majority at this stage. unless the exit poll is incredibly wrong, the prime minister has failed to achieve her principal objective. the worst possible outcome would be a hung parliament. cheering. politics has changed, and politics isn't going back. cheering. you live by the sword and you die by the sword. i am standing down today as the leader of ukip with immediate effect. cheering. are you resigning, prime minister? are you stepping down, mrs may? chanting: 0h, jeremy corbyn! morning, all! i will now form a government. a government that can provide certainty and lead britain forward at this critical time for our country. we will enter discussions with the conservatives. now, let's get to work. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: theresa may is back in downing street, but her parliamentary majority is gone, and britain has a hung parliament. i have just been to seen her majesty the queen and will now form a government, a government that can provide certainty and lead britain forward at this critical time for our country. labour made gains across britain, confounding many predictions, asjeremy corbyn said his party was the real winner. incredible results. the labour party. it was people voted for hope. young people and old people all came together yesterday. a very high turnout, a huge increase in the labour vote. we'll have the full result with the conservatives on 318,