re: UK election exit polls are out

Good morning to all.

With 646 of 650 seats counted:

Conservative - 315 (-12)
Labour - 261 (+31)
SNP - 35 (-19)
Liberal Democrat - 12 (+3)
Democratic Unionist - 10 (+2)
Sinn Féin - 7 (+3)
Plaid Cymru - 4 (+1)
Green - 1 (0)
Independent - 1 (-4)
Ukip - 0 (0)
Ulster Unionist - 0 (-2)
Social Democrat - 0 (-3)

Aside from May, the SNP has suffered the most brutal losses from this election. Focus is turning to the Democratic Unionist Party as a possible kingmaker.

Some snippets from The Telegraph:

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Ministers were also concerned by Mrs May's own performance. While Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, made a series of passionate and sure-footed performances in the final stages of the campaign, Mrs May was privately described by some Tory candidates as "Maybot" - repeating near-identical lines in her speeches.

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The Conservatives also struggled this week in the wake of the London Bridge terror attack after Labour successfully shifted the debate onto cuts in the numbers of police officers under Mrs May when she was Home Secretary.

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Tory ministers told The Telegraph said that they were infuriated with the way the campaign was run.

They said that Mrs May made a "fundamental strategic error" with her controversial plans to overhaul social care. The manifesto introduced abandoned plans for a cap on social care, in what quickly became known as a "dementia tax".

The Prime Minister was forced to reverse the policy, damaging her authority and reputation for being decisive. Other manifesto pledges were seen as similarly "punitive" for older voters, including means testing the winter fuel allowance and abandoning the triple lock on rises in the state pension.

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