Exit poll shocker for Theresa May, hung house likely in UK
June 09, 2017 06:44
British Prime Minister Theresa May's ruling Conservative party will lose its parliamentary majority in the crucial general election, according to an official exit poll, which may lead to a hung parliament and delay Brexit talks.
The exit poll came after the voting were closed on Thursday evening.
The Conservative party is shy of the magic 326 figure for an overall majority in the House of Commons with the poll predicting 314 seats for the Tories.
This is down from the 331 won by the party in the 2015 general election and indicates a hung parliament.
The Jeremy Corbyn-led Opposition Labour Party is expected to bag 266 seats, up from its last tally of 232, according to the NOP/Ipsos MORI poll for BBC/ITV/Sky channels.
The exit poll traditionally released by UK broadcasters at 10pm when the polls close has a history of being fairly accurate in terms of the final picture that emerges once the results are declared.
Based on the exit poll forecast, May's gamble to call a snap general election in the hope of winning a stronger mandate and a larger majority seems to have not paid off as it shows she may end up 12 short of the magic number.
However, there is still a chance the party might just slip past the 326 MPs mark by the time the final results are declared.
The far-right UK Independence Party (UKIP) is set for a washout with no MPs while the Scottish National Party (SNP) are forecast to get 34, the Liberal Democrats 14 and the Green Party one MP, the exit poll said.
It suggests Labour would gain 34 seats, the Conservatives would lose 17 seats, the Lib Dems would gain six and the SNP lose 22 seats.
In total, 30,450 people were interviewed as they exited from 144 polling stations across the UK.
Even if May scrapes to an overall majority, she would have failed in her central objective in calling a snap poll which was to increase her majority substantially.
Most opinion polls and bookmakers's betting odds had been forecasting a strong majority for the ruling party of between 50 and 70 MPs.
The UK electorate voted to elect 650 MPs for the House of Commons, with about 45.8 million people entitled to vote.
The final result is expected later today.
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