LONDON—British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would form a government backed by a small Northern Irish party after her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority in an election days before launching talks on Britain’s EU departure.
A stony-faced May, speaking on the doorstep of her official Downing Street residence, said on Friday the government would provide certainty and lead Britain in talks with the European Union to secure a successful Brexit deal.
But with her authority diminished, May risks facing more opposition to her Brexit plans from both inside and outside her Conservative Party, and some colleagues may be lining up to replace her.
“She’s staying, for now,” a party source told Reuters.
May said she could rely in parliament on the support of her “friends” in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) after her governing Conservatives failed to emerge as clear winners. The DUP said only that it would enter talks.
“The prime minister has spoken with me this morning and we will enter discussions with the Conservatives to explore how it may be possible to bring stability to our nation at this time of great challenge,” Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster told reporters.
Confident of securing a sweeping victory, May had called the snap election to strengthen her hand in the European Union divorce talks. But in one of the most sensational nights in British electoral history, a resurgent Labour Party denied her an outright win, throwing the country into political turmoil.
