May tries to form government | Nuttall quits as UKIP leader | Pound down, shares up

Plus, what does all this mean for Brexit?

Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser. You can unsubscribe here.

By Justin Parkinson

Election lunchtime special: Who governs now?

Theresa May's at Buckingham Palace to seek permission to form a government, despite the Conservatives losing their majority in the general election, causing a hung parliament. All sorts of constitutional complications and considerations await, but the basic maths is that the prime minister is, with 618 MPs, eight seats short of a House of Commons majority.      Actually, the prime minister's not quite that far off, because Sinn Fein's MPs don't take their seats, but she's still nowhere near where she wanted to be when she called the contest in April.   The prime minister's seeking to stay in office on the understanding that the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (DUP) will support her minority administration.   With all but one of the UK's 650 parliamentary constituencies having declared a result, Labour has 261 MPs - up 29 on the last general election. The Conservatives are down 12 and the SNP is down 21, on 35.    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged Mrs May - who called the election to try to boost her small parliamentary majority ahead of Brexit negotiations - to resign. But she says the country now needs a period of stability.   Mr Corbyn's also said Labour stands "ready to serve",  and that he's prepared to form a minority administration, despite having 57 fewer MPs than the Conservatives (with just that one constituency, Kensington, in west London, still to declare).   Under constitutional convention, Mrs May can stay on as prime minister while she tries to put a majority together. But if it becomes clear that she can't and Mr Corbyn can, she will be expected to resign.   Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats are up four seats on their 2015 showing, with 12; the DUP is up two with 10; and Sinn Fein is up three with seven. Plaid Cymru gains one seat to have four MPs and the Greens keep their one seat.   Here's what the 2017 result looks like in map form. Now it's over to the politicians to navigate their way through this situation.

Nuttall quits as UKIP leader

It was a very bad election for the UK Independence Party, which saw its share of the national vote fall from 12.6% last time to just 1.8% and failed to win any seats. Leader Paul Nuttall has resigned with immediate effect, after seven months in the job, saying the party has a "great future". London Assembly member Pete Whittle is acting leader, but many will be wondering whether Nigel Farage might be eyeing up a comeback.

Pound down, shares up

The pound's fallen against the dollar and the euro, amid the UK's political uncertainty. But shares have risen, with a decline in the value of sterling tending to boost the FTSE 100, as the majority of companies in the index have significant operations overseas.

What has the EU said?

Talks on the UK's departure are planned to start on 19 June, and EU Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has delivered an unequivocal statement: "No government - no negotiations." Meanwhile, Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt has tweeted: "Yet another own goal, after Cameron now May, will make already complex negotiations even more complicated." But Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, has offered more conciliatory words, saying: #Brexit negotiations should start when UK is ready; timetable and EU positions are clear. Let's put our minds together on striking a deal."

What does the result mean for Brexit?   The EU will be dismayed at the uncertainty the election has created. It had hoped Mrs May, with a healthy majority under her belt, would be a strong negotiator, liberated from the strictures of the Brexit ultras in her party. Instead, the 27 other EU member states are facing a divided British parliament in a divided Britain.           Read full analysis >          James Landale Diplomatic correspondent

Upsets and swatting

There's a fair bit of competition, but what were the standout surprises of election night? Some might opt for ex-Lib Dem leader and deputy PM Nick Clegg losing his seat, or the same fate befalling former SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and housing minister Gavin Barwell.   For a bit of light relief during these tense times, here's BBC election coverage host David Dimbleby swatting away a fly that's been plaguing the studio, and criticising the sound quality at an election result announcement. "It's meant to be 2017, not 1917," he complains.

Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here.

UK News World News Politics Magazine Reporters Video & Audio         News Sport Weather iPlayer TV Radio         Terms of use    |    Privacy and Cookies    |    Unsubscribe       .   Find out everything you need to know about using your BBC account, all in one place. BBC Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA Copyright © 2017 BBC   .