U.K. election: Hung parliament guaranteed as no party can win a majority
![Theresa May.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FdBbTeEjUTB32yoKYwNDJU-415-80.jpg)
With 636 of 650 seats called, there is no way British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives or any other party will win enough seats for a majority, causing a hung parliament.
Almost every seat has been called, and the Conservatives have 310, followed by Labour with 258, both falling short of the 326 seats needed for a majority. Wanting to increase her majority ahead of Brexit talks, May called the early election in April, when her party had a 20 point lead over Labour, but support for Labour surged in recent weeks, and the party picked up several seats in the election. Conservatives aren't taking this stunning shift well, with one member of parliament, Nigel Evans, telling BBC 5 Live, "We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot, we shot ourselves in the head."
While the snap election didn't pan out the way May had hoped, at least she didn't lose her seat to a mysterious cape-wearing man who goes by the name Lord Buckethead. Buckethead — who touted his "strong, not entirely stable, leadership" — received just 249 votes, but it ended up being "a new Buckethead record!" he tweeted. Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Tattoo prediction
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Escape seaside in Newport, Rhode Island
The Week Recommends For the quintessential New England experience, head to the Classic Coast
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortion
Speed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents case
Speed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strike
Speed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF response
Speed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden saw neurologist during physicals
Speed Read Following his bad debate performance, many are asking questions about the president's brain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Russia bombs Kyiv children's hospital
Speed Reads The daytime barrage interrupted heart surgeries and killed at least 40 people
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published