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IT’S SEVEN WEEKS since UK Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election seeking to increase her Tory party’s majority.
Tonight we’re finding out her gamble has been a wager too far.
Almost all 650 seats have been filled and this is how a dramatic night unfolded.
Main points
Good evening all Rónán Duffy here, your live-blogger-in-chief for tonight’s UK election count.
It’s been an eventful election campaign that has seen u-turns, no-shows and of course significant tragedy also.
But democracy goes on and UK voters have made their decision about who should lead them for the next five years.
The polls are literally open for only minutes more with a 10pm cut-off.
Minutes later we’ll get our first indication of how the UK voted with an exit poll that will be poured over for hours until the first actual results start rolling in.
Just on that exit poll, it’s a joint poll carried by two polling companies on behalf of BBC, ITV and Sky News. So whoever you’re watching you’ll be getting the same information.
It’s based on answers given by about 20,000 voters as they leave polling stations, so it’s seen as far more accurate that pre-election polls.
As the results start coming in, we’ll hear party activists from all parties spinning it their way.
This is how that parties stack up ahead of tonight.
Here is the exit poll.
It’s predicting that the Conservatives will be the largest party but has lost seats.
If that exit poll predict is accurate, it is a devastating result for Theresa May’s party with her gamble not paying off.
If the prediction is correct, Labour has gained 34 seats and Jeremy Corby’s position has been significantly strengthened.
The current Northern Ireland secretary is on Sky News, despite the bad news for his party in the exit poll he says it was still the right decision to call a snap election.
Remember, May had pledged at least six times that she would not call a snap election before.
The analysis from BBC News’ political editor Laura Kuenssberg is that Theresa May’s gamble has not paid off.
We’ve already had a call for Theresa May to step down. It’s come from Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry.
“I think she should go because she has manifestly failed,” she told Sky News.
There’s no word yet from the man of the hour yet though. Irish political columnist Lise Hand is outside Jeremy Corbyn’s house along with TV cameras and BBC’s Nick Robinson.
The BBC’s Jeremy Vine is for the first time tonight walking around a virtual UK, and it’s a battle between red and blue.
BBC’s election night coverage is streaming live on Twitter if you’re not near a TV.
“Boy oh boy oh boy, are we going to be hung drawn and quartered if this is wrong,” says David Dimbleby.
Relax, it’s not even 11pm yet David.
Som incredible data here from the exit poll.
Since the election was called in April, satisfaction in Theresa May has plunged while it has surged for Jeremy Corbyn.
Another stat you’re going to want to see. Millennials have gone hard for Labour.
Don’t forget. No votes have actually been counted yet, this is all based on an exit polls.
Nobody is claiming anything yet but Labour are said to be cautiously optimistic.
There’s already talk of coalitions. If the exit poll is correct, the Tories will need about 12 seats from elsewhere to get majority. In the 2015 election, the DUP won 8 seats.
It means the DUP could be in strong position in a post-election shake up. As Jeffrey Donaldson puts it on BBC:
This is perfect territory for the DUP.
“We will be serious players if there is a hung parliament,” he says.
We now have our first result. It’s from Newcastle at 11.01pm and it’s gone decisively for Labour.
No surprise there as it’s a safe seat for Labour, but one on the board nonetheless.
We have the first UK front page for tomorrow. It’s from the Financial Times and says that May’s election gamble is ‘set to backfire’.
Tony Blair’s former foreign secretary Jack Straw was a strong opponent of Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour party.
He now says that Jeremy Corbyn does deserve tremendous “personal credit” if this result bears out but, says that the campaign was a team effort by the party.
Just before everyone gets ahead of themselves. Exit polls are just that and are not results, but they have a history of being accurate.
As Labour’s Emily Thornberry is pointing out.
Some more front pages for you via @hendopolis at BBC’s newsdesk (a must follow on Twitter for your nightly front pages).
‘MAYHEM’ declares The Sun.
In case you have haven’t heard, but I’m sure you have because you do before, during and after every election, the financial markets don’t like uncertainty.
A hung parliament = uncertainty.
Here’s what happened to the pound on the minute the exit poll was released.
Can we trust this exit poll?
Election analyst on Sky Professor Michael Thrasher says that while it might be off a bit, they will not be off too much and the Tories will almost certainly lose seats.
Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, eh, spinning.
“The worst possible outcome for the United Kingdom would be a hung parliament,” says veteran Tory politician Ken Clarke. He may have to get used to it.
For the uninitiated by the way, a hung parliament is one where no single party has an outright majority.
It’s a situation that is of course the norm in Ireland but not so across the water. The last time it happened was in 201o when the Conservatives went on to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.
Given the prediction that we may see a hung parliament, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was asked whether the party would take its seats in parliament.
Sinn Féin has five seats in Westminster but operates an abstentionist policy and does not take its seats.
Adams told BBC Newsline that it will not be changing its position and taking the oath to ‘Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’ to sit in parliament.
“If we are fortunate enough and privileged enough to have our candidates returned as MPs it will be on the basis that we will not be going to take out seats at Westminster,” he says.
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell on ITV News. He names a number of reasons why he feels his party’s vote share has grown.
“I think there are number of factors, one is the prime minister’s promise not to contest an election, about seven times.”
The second thing is she said ‘this is about Brexit’, and they said you already have a mandate for that, so the issues moved on to what’s best for our country.
On the basis of the exit poll, the Scottish National Party may have lost 22 seats north of the border.
The party won an incredible 56 seats out of 59 in the 2015 general election. It now appears that result may have been a high watermark for the pro-independence party.
Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are all likely to gain seats at the SNP’s expense.
Here’s what the BBC are predicting the Scottish map to look like. It’s a bit of a patchwork:
Let’s get a little ahead of ourselves for a second shall we?
If the Tories lose seats and their majority it would put immense pressure on Theresa May, who decided to call the snap election. Could it leave to a heave against her leadership?
There’s already talk of Boris Johnson. It’s very early talk, but talk nonetheless
As I wrote this morning in a preview of what we should be looking out for tonight, one of the most important factors to look at is where Ukip’s lost votes go.
The party is way down after Brexit and the departure of Nigel Farage.
Both Labour and the Conservatives are benefiting from their vote collapse but in these marginal seats it seems Labour are benefitting more, by about a percentage point.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer and current Evening Standard newspaper editor George Osborne is on analysis duty tonight.
Here’s what he had to say about Theresa May’s leadership of the Conservatives:
I don’t think it necessarily plays out immediately, we will see. She’s the Prime Minister and we don’t know if she’s got a majority or not. Is the Conservative party likely to want her contesting the next general election? I think there’s a very large question over that.
“The manifesto, which was drafted by her and about two other people was a total disaster, it must go down now as one of the worst manifestos in history,” he adds.
We have our first comment from Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s via Twitter and he says his party’s campaign has changed politics for the better”
Nigel Farage thinks Jeremy Corbyn has won votes for Labour from different places:
Our first look at BBC’s swingometer of the night.
This is based on actual results and again shows how Ukip’s vote has been split, a bit more favourably to Labour.
Another front page for you, this time from The Guardian.
Here’s what Nigel Farage has to say.
On Ukip’s vote collapse and its current leader Paul Nuttall?
I’ve got no criticisms of Paul, but the people around him organisationally? Pretty weak.
On the Tories and Theresa May?
What a huge error to pick a Remainer to lead a Brexit party in a Brexit election.
On the prospects for Brexit?
If we do get a Corbyn coalition then Brexit will be in some trouble.
If it looks like Brexit is in trouble, would he come back?
I would absolutely no choice but to do so.
Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, there’s a recount in the Foyle constituency where the SDLP may have lost their 34-year hold of John Hume’s former seat in Derry.
Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan has been the MP there since 2005 but it looks as though Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion may have taken his seat.
As is usually the case, when the exit polls come out parties usually urge caution.
The Tories had been saying the exit poll underestimated their vote but the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg is now reporting that they are accepting the exit poll is on the money.
In Scotland, the decline in the SNP vote is being blamed on the lack of an appetite for another independence referendum.
To perhaps underline that, Angus Robertson, who is the SNP’s deputy leader and who leads them in Westminster, has lost his seat to the Conservatives.
Brexit Minister David Davis says it’s too early in the night to be making predictions.
He’s giving out to Sky’s Adam Boulton and says the problem with through the night shows is that: “early in the night’s it’s Labour seats and later on it’s Conservative seats.”
He also defended the calling of the election.
What we said is we wanted a mandate for what we are doing in relation to Brexit.
Sky is also predicting that the Conservatives will win 308-328 seats. They’ll need 326 seats to have a majority.
The former Lib Dem leader and former Deputy PM Nick Clegg has lost his seat. He looks genuinely gutted.
He she is.
Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the count centre in her Maidenhead constituency along with her husband Philip. She makes no comment to the media.
In a speech following his loss, the Lib Dem’s Nick Clegg says the emphasis must now be on bridging the divide in British society.
“There is a huge gulf between young and old,” he says. “We must try and reach out to each other.”
(Click here if video doesn’t play)
An exceptionally dignified speech from the SDLP’s Mark Durkan on losing his seat to Sinn Féin’s Elisha McCallion in Derry:
I cannot tell a lie. I cannot say it doesn’t hurt. But I absolutely want to begin by congratulating Elisha McCallion and agreeing with her that to represent the people is a privilege, to represent the people of this city as their designated MP is a privilege. And it’s a privilege I’ve enjoyed for 12 years and I’m sure Elisha will enjoy it as she’s been given that mandate and that mantle.
Another frontpage, a similar theme…
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is officially elected in London’s Islington North, a seat he has held since 1983.
He begins his speech by thanking the police for their work in protecting the ballot and following last weekend’s terror attack.
“Politics has changed. It is not going back in its box where it has gone before. People have had quite enough,” he says.
He goes on to say that the Theresa May’s Conservatives have lost seats and lost votes.
“I would have thought that’s enough to go actually,” he says, seemingly calling for her to resign.
“I’m very proud of the results coming in from everywhere tonight, people are turning for hope,” he adds.
Theresa May is now speaking after being reelected and she is choosing her words carefully.
“Returns are still coming and we are yet to see the full picture,” she says
“At this time more than anything else this country needs a period of stability,” she adds, before hinting that the Tories may lead without a majority.
If as we expect to be the largest party with the largest number of votes, it would be incumbent upon us to ensure we have that period of stability.
Judge for yourselves, but Theresa May’s voice was, well, shakey.
Here is here speech in full:
Just a quick reminder that the DUP may win up to 10 seats and be in a position to help the Tories form a government…
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is putting a positive spin on the fact that her party may have lost up to 24 seats in Scotland.
“We will have more seats than any other party combined,” she says, before saying she is ”not trying gloss over what are some disappointing losses.”
Sturgeon says the result is a disaster for Theresa May.
One of the biggest issues tonight UK-wide is the fact this is a disaster for Theresa May. She called this election unnecessarily.
Here’s another front page, this time from the London Times.
It’s gone a little bit quiet right now so let’s have a little recap. It’s 04.24am and about 80% of the seats have been filled.
What’s certain is that the Conservatives have lost seats in this election and Labour have gained seats.
The Tories will remain as the biggest party but will fall short of the 326 seats needed to form a majority, so a hung parliament is almost certain.
The BBC’s prediction is that the Conservatives will end up with 318 seats.
What it means is that they will need to rely on support from elsewhere to govern. This support could very well come from the DUP in Northern Ireland which has increased its seat share to 10 seats.
Sinn Féin will also increase its seats from six to seven but the party will continue its abstentionist policy and will not take up its seats. The SDLP has lost all of its Westminister seats.
For Labour, the party has increased its share of both votes and seats and the position of its leader Jeremy Corbyn has been strengthened. The party could gain as many as 35 seats and Corbyn has called on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign.
In Scotland, the SNP has lost a large chunk of its seats but will remain the largest party north of the border.
One thing we haven’t really talked about is overall vote share. So here we go.
As you can see, the one thing this election has done is moved the UK back to a clear two-party political landscape.
Whereas in previous years the two largest parties have been challenged by first the Lib Dems and more recently Ukip, both those parties are now a disant third and fourth.
As Jeremy Vine says on BBC, that 40% share for Labour is in fact at a level Tony Blair achieved during one of this three electoral victories.
And here’s the change in the vote share from 2015, when David Cameron’s Conservatives beat Ed Miliband’s Labour.
Labour have jumped its vote share by a third from 30% to 40% while the Conservatives are up by about a sixth.
Turnout was seen as vital for the Labour party, particularly among young people.
President of the National Union of Students Malia Bouattia says they did indeed turn out.
The DUP’s Simon Hamilton speaks to the BBC as the party emerges as a potential kingmaker with its 10 Westminster seats.
Hamilton refuses to discuss whether the party will enter into a formal coalition with the Conservatives or whether it could be a vote-by-vote arrangement.
He says, however, that they want a “frictionless border” with the Republic of Ireland post-Brexit and that “clearly our votes will be very important”.
It’s now well and truly the morning after as Theresa May leaves the Conservative Party HQ in brightness.
“Are you stepping down,” she is asked by journalists.
There is no answer.
Here are some more details about how the DUP may hold the balance of power in Westminster.
Well, with this result it is now impossible for the Conservatives to retain a majority and a hung parliament has been confirmed.
Theresa May’s decision to hold an election in an attempt to increase her majority has failed. She will now come under intense pressure in the next 24 hours and beyond.
And with that, I will close tonight’s liveblog. Our coverage will continue on TheJournal.ie this morning and into this afternoon with loads to digest.
Thanks for joining me, Rónán Duffy, and stay with us for the shockwaves from this unexpected result. Morning all!
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How about some tax cuts for tax payers, and social welfare cuts for the bottom feeders
@Charlie O’Neill: Charlie only cares about you if you haven’t been born yet. If you happen to be out of a job you’re a ‘bottom feeder’
@paulganly: Plenty of jobs around, and plenty of lazy fockers too. No problem helping those genuinely unable to work for health reasons, but all the spongers should get reduction after reduction, then they will have to go earn a living.
@Charlie O’Neill: dark aul view social welfare is spent in local businesses while apple tax cheats is held offshore why does ffffffFG get 2 budgets again? fffg MERGE already!
@paulganly: How about encouraging people to find a job & rewarding those that make an effort.
@Charlie O’Neill: correct why should
Farmers
Get subsidies while also working full
Time outside farming
Sharp cuts to welfare needed. No excuse. How is it that tens of thousands of Eastern Europeans manage to get a job in your local Spar yet the locals in social housing don’t even bother to apply. People need to be forced to work if they are able-bodied.
@Fred Jetson: I was made redundant from a major retailer with 33 years service over a year ago and all my efforts to get back into work failed. I tried both full time and part time even in these small shops. I am at the moment doing a 6 month course in CAD and CnC manufacturing and if it wasn’t for our welfare system would have been impossible. I desperately want to work and earn a living but no one will employ me. Please don’t tar all of us on the dole with the same brush. One day, we will all need assistance.
@Francis Sally:
Francis, fair play to you and I hope you get work in the near future. Unfortunately not all of society has your work ethic which I am sure will benefit you and you will get a job.
@Francis Sally:
I wish you well and hope you get a job.
Where welfare really needs addressing is on giving people out of work for life. that is unaffordable for a country E200 billion in debt. Even without that debt. The OECD has criticised Ireland for this more than once in the past few years. Very few countries do it.
Another thing is paying those who have not contributed enough, or at all, to the tax pot and yet who claim everything that’s going for years on end.
And we know who those groups are.
@Fred Jetson: because the Irish will not work in spar. Dope
@Rory: or is it spar won’t hire Irish people !!!!!
@Nick Allen: thanks for the kind words, Nick…. completely agree with you. Worked since I was 16 and it’s horrible to be in this situation.
@Francis Sally: people in this little country are notoriously quick to tar everyone with the same brush.. until it happens to a member of there own family…
@Francis Sally: I don’t think anyone is tarring all social welfare recipients with the same brush or at least I hope not but there are plenty on it that don’t want to work. Unfortunately it sounds like agism is against you as employers don’t want to employ people over a certain age. Best of luck to you.
@Fred Jetson: That’s a lot of the problem, that eastern Europeans can come here to work but who wants to work over there? Nobody, because there’s nothing there for western Europeans.
0 welfare increase please.
@Paul: Agreed… Cut welfare to Apple immediately and invest in services.
@Louis Jacob: We’re not paying “welfare ” to apple. We’re being asked by the European Commission to act as tax collector for the rest of Europe. Not sure how much of the tax we’d actually get to keep, which would be none if the tax is not legally payable
@Thomas O’ Donnell: 0.005% Tax? Call it what you like. I’m not saying they need to act as anyone’s ‘tax collector’. I’m just saying that Apple should be paying more.
@Paul: How nice of you. Those of us struggling on careers and disability allowance will just go dig a hole and die will we? Or after paying tax all my working life I am now in a position to actually get something back from the state when I need it most . After all my pax paid for education health child allowance for you and everyone else.
@Louis Jacob: zero excuse for able bodied people not to work now.the lazy could use the excuse that jobs were scarce during the crash!
Plenty of work out there now!
@Catherine Sims: People seem to lump the person like yourself and the worker that has worked for donkeys years but lost their job in the same category with the lazy shites that have never had a job in their lives.
@Louis Jacob: Have a look at the info graphic EU Competition tweeted out. Shows Apple products being bought all over Europe and profits going to Ireland. It was a not to subtle message that the tax is owned to France, Germany and the rest of Europe and Ireland needs to put that right.
@Brendan Walsh: the tax is not owed to the rest of Europe. Tax on sales is called VAT. Tax on profits are called corporation tax. If you have subsidiaries in multiple countries then you use transfer pricing to sell your products to countries where taxes are higher from countries that have lower taxes. If you don’t have profit in France or Germany then you don’t owe tax. Simple! You or I would do the same to pay as little tax as possible. Other European countries are so far behind in business terms. Now they want to move the goal posts and tax revenue. A joke!
“Peoples pay should rise at a gentle pace”….meanwhile TD’s get €2700 pay rise a year for the next two years. Nice gentle pace there !
@zippo: was thinking exactly the same Zippo…one rule for us and one for the peasants
Lower your own salaries by at least 30% and halve the amount of TDs .
@Frank Brennan:
That will not have any material impact on the overall finances
@Frank Brennan: and it’s also constitutionally illegal.
@Nick Allen: Doesn’t hurt to lead by example though…….
@Nick Allen: correct, but it should be done.
@Frank Brennan: I presume that the lowering of salaries applies only to TDs. If so , I agree.
@rory conway: just the TDs
@Frank Brennan: we were given the chance to get rid of that Seanad joke shop and didn’t take it.
Conmen in suits. That’s all they are.
“McGrath pointed out the government need to find revenue-raising measures.”
Another way to create funds would be to look at operational cost savings. Perhaps some efficiencies and accountability in the public service? A novel idea would be to incentivise people to look for cost savings within their departments.
How about the Nordic model all Irish politicians praise as the most fair…..In Sweden people on €18000 pay €3000 in income tax….Here they would pay hardly any tax….
@John003:
As you say the tax on 18k in Sweden is 3,200 whereas in Ireland not is 600. But if the salary is 35,800 tax in Ireland rockets up to 7,000 (Sweden is 8,300). This increase is far too much and should be spread more evenly.
@John003: aye yeah. But do the pay the selection of stealth taxes we pay?
@oh i dunno:
Their average water bill is 492 euro a year which is a lot higher than the 160 a year Ireland was looking to charge
FF budget. Property tax breaks in the property bubble, get rid of financial regulation, the Galway tent, and more brown envelopes.
In other words ,workers your screwed , people who don’t want to work your laughing.. no changes there then
And pay increases for politicians again. Come on journal, independent reported this on Monday.
Keep your miserly cuts and hire some extra nurses with the money!
Party of crooks!
I wouldn’t buy a second hand from them .ff = Corruption
Confident we’ll be in power after the next election,and meanwhile will supply support while it suits…no no doubt the blueshirts will return the favour…
Feck off FF. You destroyed this country then FG buried it.
“Confidence and supply”
What a load of horshite.
Everyone complains and begrudges unfortunate people on the dole.. trying to get by.. but nobody says a word when members of government award themselves huge undeserved salary increases ..and claim enormous expenses..
pathetic! the usual from FF, dont try to alienate anyone, something for everyone, from the same crowd that were throwing out double digit in terms of % welfare increases every year, when tens of thousands of foreigners were coming here to do work that many of the Irish wouldnt!
ffffffFG will be doing its 2 budgets again I see MERGE already!
Or we could just our Apple Tax!
Jesus the amount of Heartless people here in Ireland is unreal. everyone blameing the people on social, people who have lost their jobs, made to feel like peace of waste, living on €198.00 per week, you try and do that. People should look at the real problem in this country, The Government end of story, they waste money left and right, set up bull taxes. We must all share the blame for this deplorable condition, we keep letting the wasters in power doing the same thing over and over again. The USC was only to last 8 months, still here. Anyone that blames people on Social are NO better then the rednecks in America.
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