Al Jazeera breaks down the election process and the main contenders.
The latest news as the results come in for the UK general election.
All the latest developments for the snap general election that comes as the UK prepares for difficult Brexit negotiations. All times local (GMT 1).
After meeting the queen, Theresa May says she will form a government to provide stability and lead Britain out of the EU.
Speaking outside her official Downing Street residence, the prime minister says she can rely in parliament on the support of her “friends” in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party after her ruling Conservatives failed to win a majority.
“We will continue to work with our friends and allies in the Democratic Unionist Party in particular,” she said.
“Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom.”
Theresa May made this election a referendum on herself, then lost it. Seriously, how can she carry on as PM today?
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) June 9, 2017
Larry the cat faces the media after yesterday's election #GE2017 #GeneralElection pic.twitter.com/0LCctV6Au3
— Aisling Ennis (@aislingrosennis) June 9, 2017
We know Theresa May can't now negotiate Brexit for Britain because she told us losing majority would destroy her authority—and it has.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) June 9, 2017
The Conservative Party has failed to gain an absolute majority in parliament after Thursday’s election, according to the Reuters news agency.
Conservatives 246 (-9), Labour 228 ( 25), SNP 33 (-19), Lib Dems 10 ( 4), Democratic Unionist Party 10 ( 2), Sinn Fein 7 ( 3), Plaid Cymru 3, Others 1, Greens 0, UKIP 0 (-1).
Conservatives are set to be the largest party in parliament but short of an overall majority, according to exit poll projections.
Conservative leader Theresa May said that if her party wins the most seats and most votes, “it will be incumbent on [the Conservatives] to ensure that stability”.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate. Well the mandate she’s got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that is enough for her to go actually.”
Tories have lost key marginal Croydon Central, Labour's Sarah Jones set to pick up a majority of 3,000 + #Ge2017
— Shafik Mandhai (@ShafikFM) June 9, 2017
With 343 out of 650 seats declared, the Conservatives remain on course to be largest party – but short of a majority.
Kieran Pedley, an analyst with GFK Market Research, told Al Jazeera that Labour has made impressive gains in southern marginals, but that was offset to an extent by some Tory gains in Scotland.
Labour gain Sheffield Hallam from the former deputy prime minister and former leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Labour win with 21,881 votes. Nick Clegg beaten into second with 19,756.
Former Business Secretary Vince Cable wins back his Twickenham seat for the Liberal Democrats from the Conservatives.
Angus Robertson, who led the SNP in the British parliament, loses to Conservative Douglas Ross in Moray, northeast Scotland.
Tories also win Ochil and South Perthshire from SNP.
Labour have taken two seats from the SNP: Rutherglen and Hamilton West and Midlothian.
The losses are a blow to Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP, which had a near clean sweep in Scotland in 2015.
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Labour’s Marsha de Cordova wins with 25,292 votes, defeating the Conservative minister Jane Ellison who bagged 22,876.
Battersea had a Conservative majority of nearly 8,000…Labour have taken the seat #GE2017
— Shafik Mandhai (@ShafikFM) June 9, 2017
Brilliant result in Battersea. Well done to @Marshadecordova – our new London Labour MP for Battersea. #GE2017 #LabourGain pic.twitter.com/Sz7WLw44bx
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 9, 2017
Results declared: Labour 21 (-1), Conservatives 8, Lib Dems 0, SNP 0 (-1), Plaid Cymru 0, UKIP 0, Greens 0, Others 1.
Early results have historically favoured the Labour Party.
The exit poll suggests the Conservatives will be the largest party in parliament but would be short of an overall majority.
Exit poll suggests the standing of the parties will be Conservatives 314, Labour 266, SNP 34, Lib Dems 14, Plaid Cymru 3, UKIP 0, Greens 1, Others 18.
Labour holds with 22,681 votes. The Conservatives are second with 19,401.
Labour and the Tories both up eight points on 2015, a swing from Labour to the Conservatives of 0.2 percent.
Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips says that the Conservatives were hoping to win seats like Darlington – which had a narrow Labour majority and voted strongly in favour of Brexit: “[This loss] suggests at the very least that Theresa May’s desired landslide is fast-disappearing over the horizon.”
The party that wins Nuneaton has won the general election in seven of the last eight contests.
Northern Ireland’s nationalist Sinn Fein will maintain its policy of not taking seats in parliament, says the party’s president Gerry Adams – which will cut the number of seats needed to win a majority.
Croydon Central is seen as a must-win seat for Labour.
“[Party leader] Tim Farron made it very clear. He said no pact, no deal, no coalition,” former leader Menzies Campbell told the BBC.
“We’ve had our fingers burnt by coalition,” said Campbell, referring to his party’s deal with the Conservatives after the 2010 election.
Exit polls suggest the Liberal Democrats will increase their number of seats from eight to 14.
Labour’s Chi Onwurah holds her seat in Newcastle-upon-Tyne Central.
Onwurah wins a majority of 14,937 (40.27 percent) – up from 12,673 (36.12 percent) in 2015.
This is a 2 percent swing to Labour from the Conservatives.
This is regarded as a safe seat. Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips, reporting from London, says election experts believe something like 75 seats are too close to call.
Senior Labour Party adviser Emily Thornberry says that if the exit poll is correct then Prime Minister Theresa May should consider resigning: “If this is right, I think she should consider her position. I think she should go. She has manifestly failed.”
Mike Kane, Labour MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, told Al Jazeera: “We’ve only had an exit poll, but this will be one of the greatest reversals in modern British history … and the reputational damage for both the Conservative Party and for Britain in those negotiations is lasting.”
Conservative Defence Minister Michael Fallon expressed caution. “Let’s see some actual results to see if this is borne out – this is a projection … These exit polls have been wrong in the past.”
Ben Page, polling analyst for Ipsos Mori, told Al Jazeera that: “The exit poll has been very accurate for the past three elections …. There is a margin of error on those numbers which is about 15 seats either way.”
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The pound lost more than two cents against the dollar within seconds of the exit poll result, falling from $1.2955 to $1.2752.
Some investors worry that the lack of a majority for the Conservatives would weaken the next government’s hand in the upcoming Brexit negotiations.
Dennis Novy, professor of economics at the University of Warwick, told Al Jazeera that traders are changing their positions and adjusting to the unexpected news: “But this is not a major shift. If you compare this to the [Brexit] referendum last year the pound was down by … over 10 cents very rapidly.”
The exit poll indicates that the Conservative Party will be the largest party but will lose 17 seats with a projection of 314 seats.
The Labour Party are projected to win 266 seats – a rise of 34 seats.
The projections put the Liberal Democrats on 14 seats – an increase of six; SNP 34; Plaid Cymru three; the Green Party one.
UKIP is set to lose their only seat. The other parties will account for 18 seats between them.
Around half of the British population consider the future of the NHS to be the most important issue going into the vote.
The party that wins the small Midlands town has won the general election in seven of the last eight contests.
PM Theresa May’s Conservatives hold the lead in opinion polls but Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party is not too far away.