Theresa May asks QEII permission to form a new government

[TLLK]

Theresa May to ask The Queen for permission to form a government with the DUP today – Royal Central

[Curryong]

What an absolute complete debacle! Being a political junkie, along with my son I watched the UK election result unfold today from the beginning. Theresa May had a more than adequate Parliamentary majority before this election. However, like Cameron, hubris hit her, she wanted more more more. Now she's just about fighting for her political life, after a robotic campaign style that saw her hiding away for much of the time, refusing to debate, etc.

She seems confident that she can form a minority government. However the DUP didn't seem quite as enthusiastic. No formal agreement seems to have been signed, yet. And even when it is the DUP will no doubt be demanding a very expensive pound of flesh. No doubt the Queen is keeping a very close eye on this.

[TLLK]

@Curryong-So what could happen now? Could there be a "no confidence vote" or a coalition government created? I have such little background with this type of election process so any info that you can share would be appreciated.

[Curryong]

If Theresa May can form a minority government with the help and support of the (Ulster) DUP then all well and good. However, her authority as leader of her party is very seriously diminished because of this result. She may last, she may not but the Conservative MPs will not be happy.

Once an agreement has been reached with the DUP then she goes to the Queen and tells her so. I believe she went to BP yesterday to assure HM that she could form a government. Once she's done that and Parliament is opened (by the Queen) on the first day of business the Opposition will no doubt move a no confidence motion in order to test this coalition. If the no confidence motion is rejected then Government business begins in the normal way. We don't know at the moment though whether the DUP is going to support every bill put forward by the Government or just Supply and no confidence bills. If the latter then Theresa May is going to have to do an awful lot of horse trading to get anything done and she may well resign beforehand rather than fight through.

If this DUP support breaks down in the negotiation stage and she can't get support from anywhere else then Theresa will go to the Queen and tell her she can't form government. In a political crisis such as that, the Queen, who has over sixty years of experience in ticklish political situations, will ask her to try again.

If she doesn't succeed then she will resign as PM and the Queen will send for the Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, and will ask him to try and form government. If he can't (and it seems impossible on the numbers he has now even with the help of the Scottish Nationals) then the Queen could consult with all leaders to see if some kind of coalition can be cobbled together for the sake of the nation.

That latter course is possible but seems extremely unlikely to me, and if the Conservative-DUP alliance doesn't hold, for whatever reason, then it will probably mean another general election.

This all takes place against a background in which British government negotiations with Brussels are scheduled to start within days. They may be put off, but any member nation who wishes to leave the EU has to do so within two years, so any new general election will leave even less time to negotiate.

Mrs May, like many modern political leaders, (we had this in Aus as well) decided to go to the polls on the advice of aides and advisers. It wasn't necessary for her to go to the people. Jeremy Corbyn and the Brexit vote inspired a lot of young voters to come out and May was a dreadful campaigner. Now she's been hoist by her own petard, not that she's shown any humility in any public speech she's made since. We must wait and see I suppose to find out if she and her government survives.

[TLLK]

^^^Many thanks @Curryong for answering my question about the election outcome. I know have a better understanding of what could happen now. :thumbsup:

[Curryong]

You're welcome, TLLK. Apparently, as I type this, there's even more of a question mark over Mrs May's political future than there was yesterday. The buzzards are circling!

[amabel]

dear God, how much worse can it get.

[royalanthropologist]

Theresa May has done a right old cock up. She could have had a majority for years but then decided to squander it all away. Now she is behaving as if nothing happened. DUP are really out there so I am not sure how that collaboration is going to work. May has been a disaster or the Conservatives. I am also petrified that if Corbyn ever gets in, he will immediately try to undermine the monarchy. The man is a committed socialist.

[amabel]

of course he wotn do anyting to the monarchy.