Election 2017 live updates: Theresa May claims Conservative government supported by DUP will provide 'certainty'
The Independent will be bringing you all the live updates as the UK's next government is formed
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May has said she will form a Conservative government backed by the DUP, claiming it can bring "certainty" to the UK.
After visiting the Queen, the Prime Minister claimed there was a "strong relationship" between the two parties, amid concern over the DUP's controversial anti-abortion and anti-LGBT policies.
The PM has also apologised to Conservatives who lost last night. She said: "I'm sorry for all those colleagues who lost their seats." She will "reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward" after the result, she added.
The UK voted for a hung parliament after shock losses for the Conservatives in the 2017 general election. With 649 of 650 seats declared, the Tories had 318 seats - eight short of the figure needed to win outright - with Labour on 261, the SNP on 35 and Liberal Democrats on 12.
Jeremy Corbyn's party increase its share of the vote by 9.6 per cent, while the Tories were up 5.5 per cent, the Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP saw small loses and Ukip's vote collapsed.
The live blog has now ended
Politicians, voters, and even their pets have been heading to polling stations and are posing for the cameras at every opportunity.
The Prime Minister has made clear that she would rely on the support of the Democratic Unionist Party in order to get her programme through Parliament, despite concern over its stance on issues including equal marriage, abortion and climate change.
Making no allusion to losses suffered by the Conservatives, Ms May said she intended to press ahead with her plans for Brexit.
She faced calls from within her own party to consider her own position after the election, which she brought forward by three years in the hope it would deliver an increased majority in the Commons.
Jeremy Corbyn urged her to resign and allow him to form a minority administration, declaring: “We are ready to serve this country.”
But, after intensive talks with the DUP, the Prime Minister instead drove the short distance to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen for permission to form a new government.
The final election results came in late on Friday, after Kensington finally declared a Labour win — with a tiny 20-vote majority. They were:
Spotted: dog at polling station with striking resemblance to one of the party leaders
We have written a run-down of what to expect over the polling and results period, although I'm afraid we can't tell you which party will win.
Results for Sunderland are expected to come in first — they take ballot-counting very seriously over there. At about 1am a dozen results will have been announced, which should demonstrate whether the exit poll is right. And if you fancy staying up all night, St Ives in Cornwall is usually last to count their ballots.
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell outside his home with his wife and son as he sets off to vote
A taxi firm in Manchester is offering free taxi rides to get voters to polling stations
Grime artist Jamie Adenuga, known as Jme, has announced his arrival at a polling station. The musician has been instrumental in the Grime4Corbyn campaign, which urges young people to become engaged in politics.
Mr Corbyn told The Independent in an interview this week he believed grime artists saw a "sense of hope" in the prospect of a Labour government.
↵Lord Sugar, presenter of reality TV show The Apprentice, has published a photo of £59m cheque he sent to HMRC in January.
The business magnate had been criticised for urging people not to vote for Jeremy Corbyn because he would have to pay more tax under a Labour government.
Lord Sugar was granted a lifetime Labour peerage in 2009 but has repeatedly criticised the current party leadership, which he said last month had welcomed “Militants, Trots, anti-Semites and terrorist sympathisers”.
The Unite union have paid for a plane to trail a banner urging people to vote Labour, Buzzfeed's political editor Jim Waterson reported. It has been circling over Merseyside — a Labour stronghold.
Cameramen have been filmed in a scuffle outside a polling station while waiting for Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron
When asked about the naughtiest thing he has ever done, Jeremy Corbyn said it was "far too naughty to say".
His response comes after Theresa May said the naughtiest thing she did as a child was "run through fields of wheat".
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