An election that backfired - and now, uncertainty

IN A surprise UK general election outcome, the Conservative Party has emerged as the largest party, but short of an overall majority in the House of Commons. The result reflects the poor campaign performance of Prime Minister Theresa May whose authority has been very badly damaged and whose political future is now in doubt.

Mrs May called the snap election in April when the Conservatives held a commanding 20 percentage point lead in polls. Had this been borne out in Thursday's results, the Conservatives could have secured a landslide of more than a 100 seat majority in the House of Commons. However, polls tightened significantly during May and June.

The election campaign and Thursday's result has key implications for British politics. While the Conservatives will lead the next government - having reached an understanding with the 10 Democratic Unionists MPs from Northern Ireland to allow Mrs May to form a new administration - the governing party's position has been weakened in the House of Commons, and opposition groups are calling on Mrs May to resign. This turn of events could have substantial implications for Brexit given the formal start later this month of upcoming negotiations with the EU. In April, Mrs May declared that she had called the election as she was not prepared to allow opposition parti…