British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will put together a government with the support of the Democratic Unionists that can provide certainty for the future. <br/><br/>Speaking after visiting Buckingham Palace, she said only her party had the legitimacy to govern, despite falling eight seats short of a majority. May said she would join with her DUP friends to get to work on Brexit. But Labour said they were the real winners while the Lib Dems said Mrs May should be "ashamed" of carrying on. <br/><br/>The Tories needed 326 seats to win another majority but, with 649 out of the 650 seats declared, they fell short and must rely on the DUP to continue to rule.<br/><br/>In a short statement outside Downing Street, which followed a 25-minute audience with The Queen, Mrs May said she intended to form a government which could provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for the country. <br/><br/>Referring to the strong relationship she had with the DUP but giving little detail of how their arrangement might work, she said the government would guide the country through the crucial Brexit talks that begin in just 10 days' time.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Buckingham Palace at 12:30 BST to seek permission to form a new UK government, despite losing her Commons majority. She is seeking to stay in office on the understanding that the Democratic Unionists of Northern Ireland will support her minority administration. <br/><br/>With one seat left to declare, the Tories are eight seats short of the 326 figure needed to command a majority. Jeremy Corbyn has urged her to quit, saying Labour is ready to serve. After a disappointment for the Conservatives, Theresa May faces ending up with 12 fewer seats than when she called the election and will need the support of other parties to govern. <br/><br/>The Tories are forecast to end up with 319 seats ahead of Labour on 261, the SNP 35 and the Lib Dems on 12. The DUP won 10 seats. Combined, the Tories and the DUP would have 329 MPs in the Commons. Given the seven Sinn Fein MPs are unlikely to take their seats, such an alliance would enjoy a slightly larger working majority but short of that which Mrs May enjoyed before the election.<br/><br/>Mrs May has signalled her intention to carry on in Downing Street, saying the country needs stability with the start of Brexit negotiations 10 days away. It is thought Mrs May will seek some kind of informal arrangement with the DUP that could see it lend its support to the Tories on a vote-by-vote basis, known as confidence and supply. <br/><br/>The DUP is currently meeting to discuss what it has said is a messy situation. Labour has said it is also ready to form a minority government of its own, after far exceeding expectations by picking up 29 seats in England, Wales and Scotland. But even if it joined together in a so-called progressive alliance with the SNP, Lib Dems, Green Party and Plaid Cymru, it would only reach 313 seats – short of the 326 figure.<br/><br/>The Conservatives have argued in the event of a hung Parliament, Mrs May gets the opportunity to form a government first, as her predecessor David Cameron did in 2010 when there was also no clear winner but the party had comfortably more seats than their nearest rival.