The fallout of the election disaster has led two top aides to British Prime Minister Theresa May to resign on Saturday.

Joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who formed part of May’s small inner circle, shouldered some for the blame for Thursday’s snap election that proved a disaster for the Conservative Party and a potential fatal blow to May’s premiership.

Timothy and Hill were blamed by many Conservatives for the party’s lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate “Theresa’s positive plan for the future,” and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Katie Perrior, who quit as May's communications chief in April, said Timothy and Hill were "great street fighters but poor political leaders" and exercised too much power over the prime minister.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister despite the Conservatives losing their overall majority in Parliament.

The resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government. May's office has said that the most senior Cabinet members — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd — will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

May's party won 318 seats, eight short of the 326 they needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party took 262.

May announced the party would try to work with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, an alliance that is fraught with difficulties.

May's Downing St. office said Conservative Chief Whip Gavin Williamson was in Belfast Saturday for talks with the DUP "on how best they can provide support to the government."

The DUP, whose 10 seats would allow the government to get measures through Parliament, is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and includes both environmentalists and climate-change deniers among its senior ranks.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the "Save Ulster from Sodomy" campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

"It's an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them)," said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

"I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That's not a matter for me," she said. "When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage."

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland's British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

May's authority over her party was shattered by the election result. She called the early election with her party comfortably ahead in the polls in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain's hand in exit talks with the European Union.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party's unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

She seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don't want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest. But Britain's Saturday newspapers agreed she is just clinging on.

"May fights to remain PM," said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: "May stares into the abyss."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> LONDON >> The two top aides to British Prime Minister Theresa May resigned Saturday, shouldering some of the blame for an election that proved a disaster for the Conservative Party, a headache for Britain’s exit from the European Union — and potentially a fatal blow to May’s premiership.

Joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill formed part of May’s small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party’s lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate “Theresa’s positive plan for the future,” and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Katie Perrior, who quit as May’s communications chief in April, said Timothy and Hill were “great street fighters but poor political leaders” and exercised too much power over the prime minister.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister despite the Conservatives losing their overall majority in Parliament.

May’s party won 318 seats, eight short of the 326 they needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party took 262.

The resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government. May’s office has said that the most senior Cabinet members — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd — will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

May announced the party would try to work with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, an alliance that is fraught with difficulties.

May’s Downing St. office said Conservative Chief Whip Gavin Williamson was in Belfast Saturday for talks with the DUP “on how best they can provide support to the government.”

The DUP, whose 10 seats would allow the government to get measures through Parliament, is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and includes both environmentalists and climate-change deniers among its senior ranks.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the “Save Ulster from Sodomy” campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

“It’s an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them),” said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

“I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That’s not a matter for me,” she said. “When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage.”

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland’s British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

May’s authority over her party was shattered by the election result. She called the early election with her party comfortably ahead in the polls in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain’s hand in exit talks with the European Union.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party’s unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

She seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don’t want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest. But Britain’s Saturday newspapers agreed she is just clinging on.

“May fights to remain PM,” said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: “May stares into the abyss.” </s> Theresa May’s key aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill have resigned, taking the blame for her disastrous election campaign.

Mr Timothy said he was taking responsibility for the social care U-turn which torpedoed her manifesto, acknowledging he had “oversight of our policy programme”.

“In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care,” he added.

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A Conservative spokesman quickly announced that Fiona Hill, Ms May’s other joint chief of staff, had also resigned.

The twin departures will ease the pressure on Ms May herself, after a survey showed that majority of Tory members believe she should step down.

Strikingly, Mr Timothy urged Conservative MPs to “unite behind the Prime Minister, and focus on the need to heal the divisions in our country.”

The appeal reflected the growing belief among Tory MPs that Ms May should stay only in the short term, to provide stability and start the Brexit talks, before making way.

Since Friday’s results, some senior Tories are referring to Ms May as an “interim leader” – and her Cabinet has failed to come out publicly to support her.

Ms Hill released only a short statement saying it had been “a pleasure to work with such an excellent Prime Minister”.

“I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as Prime Minister – and do it brilliantly,” Ms Hill added.

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The resignations came just hours after another former Downing Street aide revealed how she oversaw a “toxic” operation at No 10 and relied on Ms Hill’s “crazy ideas”.

Katie Perrior lifted the lid on a “dysfunctional” operation, which saw Cabinet ministers bombarded with rude text messages by the twin chiefs of staff.

Although the departures of Mr Timothy and Ms Hill will buy the Prime Minister breathing space, they are also a huge personal blow to her.

The pair worked with Ms May through her time as Home Secretary and were seen as crucial to her project to re-make the Tory party.

Meanwhile, it would require 15 per cent of Conservative MPs – a total of 48 – to write to Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, to trigger a vote of no-confidence in her leadership.

In his statement, Mr Timothy revealed he resigned yesterday, although there was no announcement – and accepted seven years of spending cuts also helped explain the Tory setback.

“Britain is a divided country: many are tired of austerity, many remain frustrated or angry about Brexit, and many younger people feel they lack the opportunities enjoyed by their parents’ generation,” he said.

However, Mr Timothy insisted Ms May was “the one political leader who understands this division, and who has been working to address it.”

Intriguingly, he said the Conservatives had failed to detect Labour’s surge, because “we were not talking to the people who decided to vote for Labour”.

And he sounded a warning to wavering Tory MPs, saying: “The Brexit negotiations are due to begin, and if the United Kingdom is to get the right deal, there is no time to waste.

“I hope the Conservative Party in Parliament gets behind the Prime Minister, and allows her the political space to negotiate that deal.” </s> LONDON — The two top aides to British Prime Minister Theresa May resigned Saturday, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party after a disastrous election wiped out May's majority in Parliament.

The ballot-box humiliation has seriously — and possibly mortally — wounded May's leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.

Downing St. chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who departed Saturday, formed part of May's small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party's lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate "Theresa's positive plan for the future," and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May's party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.

Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was "a start," but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.

He said the Conservative election manifesto — which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting — was "a full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens."

"It was a disaster," he said. "Our manifesto was full of fear and the Labour Party's manifesto was full of promises."

Martin Selmayr, senior aide to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, responded to the resignations by tweeting the word "bauernopfer" — German for the sacrifice of a pawn in chess.

May called the early election when her party was comfortably ahead in the polls, in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain's hand in exit talks with the EU.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

May wanted to win explicit backing for her stance on Brexit, which involves leaving the EU's single market and imposing restrictions on immigration while trying to negotiate free trade deal with the bloc. Some say her failure means the government must now take a more flexible approach to the divorce.

The Times of London said in an editorial that "the election appears to have been, among other things, a rejection of the vague but harshly worded prospectus for Brexit for which Mrs. May sought a mandate."

It added that "the logic leading to Mrs. May's departure from Downing St. is remorseless."

The Downing St. resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government and replace ministers who lost their seats on Thursday. Her weakened position in the party rules out big changes, and May's office has said that the most senior Cabinet members — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd — will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

May announced the party would try strike a deal with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, an alliance that is fraught with difficulties. May's office said Conservative Chief Whip Gavin Williamson was in Belfast Saturday for talks with the DUP "on how best they can provide support to the government."

The DUP, whose 10 seats would allow the government to get measures through Parliament, is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and once appointed an environment minister who believes human-driven climate change is a myth.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the "Save Ulster from Sodomy" campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

"It's an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them)," said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

"I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That's not a matter for me," she said. "When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage."

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland's British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party's unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

Newspaper headlines saw her as just clinging on. "May fights to remain PM," said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: "May stares into the abyss."

But she seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don't want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest.

"I don't think throwing us into a leadership battle at this moment in time, when we are about to launch into these difficult negotiations, would be in the best interests of the country," Evans said. </s> LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal in principle with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party on Saturday to prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.

The result has demolished May’s political authority, and she has also lost her two top aides, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party.

The moves buy May a temporary reprieve. But the ballot-box humiliation has seriously — and possibly mortally — wounded her leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.

May’s office said Saturday that the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 10 seats in Parliament, had agreed to a “confidence and supply” arrangement with the government. That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it’s not a coalition government or a broader pact.

Downing St. said the Cabinet will discuss the agreement on Monday.

The announcement came after May lost Downing St. chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned Saturday. They formed part of May’s small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party’s lacklustre campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate “Theresa’s positive plan for the future,” and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May’s party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.

May announced later that Gavin Barwell — a former housing minister who lost his seat in Thursday’s election — would be her new chief of staff.

May said Barwell would help her “reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.”

Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was “a start,” but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.

He said the Conservative election manifesto — which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting — was “a full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens.”

“It was a disaster,” he said. “Our manifesto was full of fear and the Labour Party’s manifesto was full of promises.”

Martin Selmayr, senior aide to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, responded to the resignations by tweeting the word “bauernopfer” — German for the sacrifice of a pawn in chess.

May called the early election when her party was comfortably ahead in the polls, in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain’s hand in exit talks with the EU.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

May wanted to win explicit backing for her stance on Brexit, which involves leaving the EU’s single market and imposing restrictions on immigration while trying to negotiate free trade deal with the bloc. Some say her failure means the government must now take a more flexible approach to the divorce.

The Times of London said in an editorial that “the election appears to have been, among other things, a rejection of the vague but harshly worded prospectus for Brexit for which Mrs. May sought a mandate.”

It added that “the logic leading to Mrs. May’s departure from Downing St. is remorseless.”

The Downing St. resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government and replace ministers who lost their seats on Thursday. Her weakened position in the party rules out big changes, and May’s office has said that the most senior Cabinet members — including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd — will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

The arrangement with the DUP will make governing easier, but it makes some Conservatives uneasy. The DUP is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and once appointed an environment minister who believes human-driven climate change is a myth.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the “Save Ulster from Sodomy” campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

“It’s an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them),” said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

“I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That’s not a matter for me,” she said. “When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage.”

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland’s British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party’s unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

Newspaper headlines saw her as just clinging on. “May fights to remain PM,” said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: “May stares into the abyss.”

But she seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don’t want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest.

“I don’t think throwing us into a leadership battle at this moment in time, when we are about to launch into these difficult negotiations, would be in the best interests of the country,” Evans said. </s> LONDON – British Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal in principle with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party on Saturday to prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.

The result has demolished May’s political authority, and she has also lost her two top aides, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party.

The moves buy May a temporary reprieve. But the ballot-box humiliation has seriously – and possibly mortally – wounded her leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.

May’s office said Saturday that the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 10 seats in Parliament, had agreed to a “confidence and supply” arrangement with the government. That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it’s not a coalition government or a broader pact.

Downing St. said the Cabinet will discuss the agreement on Monday.

The announcement came after May lost Downing St. chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned Saturday. They formed part of May’s small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party’s lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.

In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate “Theresa’s positive plan for the future,” and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.

Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May’s party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.

May announced later that Gavin Barwell – a former housing minister who lost his seat in Thursday’s election – would be her new chief of staff.

May said Barwell would help her “reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.”

Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was “a start,” but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.

He said the Conservative election manifesto – which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting – was “a full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens.”

“It was a disaster,” he said. “Our manifesto was full of fear and the Labour Party’s manifesto was full of promises.”

Martin Selmayr, senior aide to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, responded to the resignations by tweeting the word “bauernopfer” – German for the sacrifice of a pawn in chess.

May called the early election when her party was comfortably ahead in the polls, in the hope of increasing her majority and strengthening Britain’s hand in exit talks with the EU.

Instead, the result has sown confusion and division in British ranks, just days before negotiations are due to start on June 19.

May wanted to win explicit backing for her stance on Brexit, which involves leaving the EU’s single market and imposing restrictions on immigration while trying to negotiate free trade deal with the bloc. Some say her failure means the government must now take a more flexible approach to the divorce.

The Times of London said in an editorial that “the election appears to have been, among other things, a rejection of the vague but harshly worded prospectus for Brexit for which Mrs. May sought a mandate_”

It added that “the logic leading to Mrs. May’s departure from Downing St. is remorseless.”

The Downing St. resignations came as May worked to fill jobs in her minority government and replace ministers who lost their seats on Thursday. Her weakened position in the party rules out big changes, and May’s office has said that the most senior Cabinet members – including Treasury chief Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd – will keep their jobs, but she is expected to shuffle the lower ranks of ministers.

The arrangement with the DUP will make governing easier, but it makes some Conservatives uneasy. The DUP is a socially conservative pro-British Protestant group that opposes abortion and same-sex marriage and once appointed an environment minister who believes human-driven climate change is a myth.

The DUP was founded in the 1970s by the late firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, and in the 1980s was a key player in the “Save Ulster from Sodomy” campaign, which unsuccessfully fought against the legalization of gay sex.

Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said she had asked May for assurances that there would be no attack on gay rights after a deal with the DUP.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. in which same-sex marriage is illegal.

“It’s an issue very close to my heart and one that I wanted categoric assurances from the prime minister on, and I received (them),” said Davidson, who is engaged to be married to her female partner.

“I could not care less what people get up to in terms of their sexuality. That’s not a matter for me,” she said. “When it becomes a matter for me is when people try to redefine marriage.”

A deal between the government and the DUP could also unsettle the precarious balance between Northern Ireland’s British loyalist and Irish nationalist parties.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, riding a wave of acclaim for his party’s unexpectedly strong showing, called on May to resign.

Newspaper headlines saw her as just clinging on. “May fights to remain PM,” said the front page of the Daily Telegraph, while the Times of London said: “May stares into the abyss.”

But she seems secure for the immediate future, because senior Conservatives don’t want to plunge the party into a damaging leadership contest.

“I don’t think throwing us into a leadership battle at this moment in time, when we are about to launch into these difficult negotiations, would be in the best interests of the country,” Evans said. </s> Prime Minister Theresa May appeared increasingly isolated after a botched election gamble that left her severely weakened and plunged Britain into a political crisis, days before the start of talks to leave the European Union.

May's two closest aides resigned on Saturday, paying the price for the failure to crush the opposition Labour Party under its radical left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour stunned even its own supporters by winning more parliamentary seats than expected and, although it lost the election, its performance was widely seen as a moral victory for Corbyn.

May called the vote three years early in the hope of scoring a sweeping win to strengthen her hand in the challenging Brexit talks, which are due to start in nine days' time.

That calculation backfired spectacularly on Thursday as voters stripped her Conservative Party of a parliamentary majority and forced her to turn to a small political party from Northern Ireland to prop up a minority government.

May's aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, announced on Saturday that they had quit following sustained criticism of the campaign within the party.

Timothy and Hill had worked for May when she was interior minister, before she became prime minister in July last year in the chaotic days that followed the Brexit vote, and their influence had increasingly angered senior ministers.

Since the election, most of the members of her cabinet have kept quiet on the issue of May's future, adding to speculation that her days as prime minister might be numbered.

Britain's typically pro-Conservative press questioned whether she could remain in power with the clock ticking on the two-year EU divorce process.

The best-selling Sun newspaper said senior members of the party had vowed to get rid of May, but would wait at least six months because they feared a leadership contest could propel Labour into power under Corbyn, who supports renationalisation of key industries and higher taxes for business and top earners.

"She's staying, for now," one Conservative Party source told Reuters. Former Conservative cabinet minister Owen Paterson, asked about her future, said: "Let's see how it pans out."

A senior Conservative lawmaker was in Belfast on Saturday for talks with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), whose 10 seats in the new parliament could give May just enough support to pass legislation.

A source close to the DUP said the party was seeking more funding for the province and concessions for former British soldiers in exchange for supporting May.

But the wooing of the DUP risks upsetting the political balance in Northern Ireland by aligning London more closely with the pro-British side in the divided province, where a power-sharing government with Irish nationalists is currently suspended.

The crisis also increases the chance that Britain will fall out of the EU in 2019 without a deal. May called the snap election to win a clear mandate for her plan to take Britain out of the EU's single market and customs union in order to cut immigration.

But her party is deeply divided over what it wants from Brexit, and the election result means British businesses still have no idea what trading rules they can expect in the coming years.

EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said it may now be possible to discuss closer ties between Britain and the EU than May had initially planned, given her election flop.

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"For instance, if London were to stay in the customs union, then it would not have to renegotiate all trade agreements," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper.

The British pound tumbled on Friday against the U.S. dollar and the euro before stabilizing, down 1.7 and 1.4 percent against the two currencies respectively.

After confirming on Friday that her top five ministers, including finance minister Philip Hammond, would keep their jobs, May must name the rest of her team, who will take on one of the most demanding jobs in recent British history.

May has said Brexit talks will begin on June 19 as scheduled, the same day as the formal reopening of parliament.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she assumed Britain still wanted to leave the EU and talks should start quickly.

But Elmar Brok, a German conservative and the European Parliament's top Brexit expert, told the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper that the talks would now be more complicated.

"May won't be able to make any compromises because she lacks a broad parliamentary majority," he said.

If she is to succeed in delivering the wishes of the 52 percent of voters who opted to take Britain out of the EU last year, she must find a way to bridge the differences within her party to pass legislation preparing for and enacting the departure.

Anand Menon, professor of politics at King's College London, said her lack of a parliamentary majority made it far more likely that Britain would leave the EU without a deal.

"Imagine she survives until autumn of next year," he said. "You will have a very fractious parliament. It is far from guaranteed to vote the deal through."

A failure to get legislation through parliament could eventually trigger another election.

Conservative Party insiders are also wondering how long May will last. "Theresa May is certainly the strongest leader that we have at the moment," lawmaker David Jones told the BBC.

The Times newspaper's front page declared "May stares into the abyss". It said Britain was "effectively leaderless" and the country "all but ungovernable". Its cartoon depicted May in a coffin with her feet sticking out and a speech bubble saying "Nothing has changed", a line she repeated several times as she reversed a key policy on social care during the campaign.

"The Conservatives have not yet broken the British system of democracy, but through their hubris and incompetence they have managed to make a mockery of it," it said in an editorial. "The task of restoring orderly government in order to make sense of Brexit is now a national emergency, and it falls to them."

The Telegraph newspaper said senior Conservatives including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, interior minister Amber Rudd and Brexit minister David Davis were taking soundings over whether to seek to oust May. </s> Theresa May looks set to be backed by the Democratic Unionist Party as she attempts to run a minority British government following her general election disaster.

Downing Street said an outline agreement on a "confidence and supply" arrangement had been reached which will be put to the cabinet for discussion on Monday.

The 10 MPs from the party could prove crucial in supporting the Conservatives on key votes after Thursday's election saw Mrs May lose control of the Commons.

A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week.

'We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.

"The details will be put forward for discussion and agreement at a Cabinet meeting on Monday."

A "confidence and supply" arrangement is a far looser deal than a formal coalition or pact.

It would mean the DUP backing the British government on its budget and prevent it being brought down by motions of no confidence, but could potentially lead to other issues being decided on a vote-by-vote basis.

The development comes after Mrs May sent her chief whip Gavin Williamson to Belfast for talks with the DUP after the election left the Tories eight seats short of the 326 required for a majority.

On a dramatic day, Mrs May's two closest aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill (both pictured) quit after coming under intense pressure from Tories following the election result.

The role of Mr Timothy and Ms Hill as Mrs May's joint chiefs of staff had been severely criticised by disgruntled Tories in the wake of the election result.

There were also misgivings about relying on the DUP, which strongly opposes same-sex marriage and abortion.

In a resignation statement on the ConservativeHome website, Mr Timothy acknowledged one of his regrets was the way Mrs May's social care policy, dubbed the "dementia tax" by critics, had been handled.

The British Prime Minister was forced to perform an unprecedented U-turn within days of the publication of the Tory manifesto by announcing there would be a cap on social care costs, something that had been absent in the original policy document.

Mr Timothy said: "I take responsibility for my part in this election campaign, which was the oversight of our policy programme.

"In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care."

But he also set out his concerns about the way the campaign was managed, in comments viewed as a sideswipe at election guru Sir Lynton Crosby.

It said the campaign failed to get "Theresa's positive plan for the future across" or "notice the surge in Labour support".

On the same website Ms Hill said: "I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as Prime Minister and do it brilliantly."

Mrs May needs to shore up her position because the speech setting out the British government's programme is due on June 19, with a highly significant vote on its content expected after a few days' debate.

Mrs May called the election claiming she wanted a stronger hand in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, due to start on June 19.

Without a majority, she could be forced to seek consensus on the approach she takes, as Scottish Tory leader Ms Davidson pointed out.

Ms Davidson, who wields considerable influence after the Scottish Tories won 13 seats, said: "I want to ensure that we can look again at issues like Brexit which we know we are now going to have to get cross-party support for.

"And move to a consensus within the country about what it means and what we seek to achieve as we leave."

In a hint that curbing immigration could become a lower priority than safeguarding the economy she said: "It is about making sure that we put free trade at the heart of what it is we seek to achieve as we leave." </s> Theresa May quit as Tory leader tonight in a low-key formality as she prepares to slip out of No10.

The Prime Minister, who was holed up in her Maidenhead constituency all day, swapped private letters with the party’s 1992 Committee acting chairmen, Charles Walker and Cheryl Gillan, as she resigned after nearly three years as Conservative chief.

A terse statement from the committee said: “Following notification from the Prime Minister, Rt Hon Theresa May MP, that she has resigned as the Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Joint Acting Chairs of the 1922 Committee are inviting nominations from those Conservative Members of Parliament who wish to stand for election as the next Party Leader.”

She remains acting party leader and PM until a new Conservative chief is unveiled in the week beginning July 22.

Nominations for her successor formally open at 10am on Monday and close seven hours later.

Eleven candidates have declared their tilts for the top job so far.

Meanwhile, Downing Street was forced to play down claims of a rift between Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond over the Treasury releasing cash for her pet projects as she desperately tries to secure a legacy.

The pair “meet regularly to talk about spending and other issues,” a No 10 spokeswoman said.

She added: “You have heard from the PM recently, in setting out that for the remainder of her time in office, she will be focused on delivering and building on the domestic agenda that she has put at the heart of her premiership since she became Prime Minister.”

Labour chairman Ian Lavery said: “The Conservatives’ legacy under Theresa May’s leadership is one of historic failure.

“They have let down renters, let down people on Universal Credit , let down older people receiving social care, betrayed the Windrush generation and done nothing to tackle the climate emergency.

“Theresa May’s reign is over but another unelected Tory Prime Minister will not make life any better for people in this country.”

Meanwhile, the London Dungeon threw what it dubbed a “farewell party” for the departed Conservative leader.

It included a “Theresa May-inspired drag act” and “Fields of Wheat” cocktails in a nod to her claim the naughtiest thing she has ever done was run through a farmer’s wheat field.

The PM did not attend the bash. </s> A beleaguered Theresa May is facing a backlash after agreeing an outline deal with anti-gay Democratic Unionists to save her premiership.

Conservatives spoke out after a senior party figure was sent to Belfast seeking a deal that could have seen the DUP handed ministerial jobs, with one Tory telling The Independent it meant being “pushed out to the right”.

In the end, no formal coalition was agreed. But a “confidence and supply” arrangement was struck for the DUP to back the Tories on key votes. The Cabinet will discuss it on Monday.

It came as Ms May was also forced to let go of her two trusted aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill – described as her “right and left arm” – to prevent a leadership challenge following her disastrous election campaign.

The Prime Minister then came under pressure from the Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, strengthened by Tory success north of the border, who called on her to think again about leaving the EU single market.

The resignations will buy time for the Prime Minister, but she is still fighting for her political life amid a growing belief in Tory circles that she must go after a period of months as an “interim leader”.

Strikingly, her Cabinet again failed to come out publicly to support her and her planned reshuffle had to be postponed amid the turmoil.

Graham Brady, the chairman of the Tories’ backbench 1922 committee, is thought to have personally demanded the heads of Mr Timothy and Ms Hill to prevent an immediate leadership contest.

Meanwhile, Gavin Barwell, who lost his Croydon Central seat at the election, was quickly appointed as Downing Street’s new chief of staff, bringing “considerable experience” to the post, the Prime Minister said.

As the twin chiefs of staff quit, Gavin Williamson, the Conservative Chief Whip, was in Belfast, pushing for the 10 DUP MPs to enter into a formal coalition agreement, rather than simply propping up the Government on key votes.

It appeared Ms May had decided she needed the strength of coalition to bolster her chances of keeping her Government alive, amid growing pressure from angry Tory MPs and members.

No 10 said the chief whip was exploring “how best they can provide support to the Government”. A source confirmed to The Independent that coalition was on the table.

However, it was thought the DUP was wary of coalition, given the miserable fate of the Liberal Democrats after entering government with the Conservatives.

Later, a No 10 spokesman said: “We can confirm that the Democratic Unionist Party have agreed to the principles of an outline agreement to support the Conservative Government on a confidence and supply basis when Parliament returns next week.

“We welcome this commitment, which can provide the stability and certainty the whole country requires as we embark on Brexit and beyond.”

It would mean the DUP backing the Government on its Budget and other key votes and – crucially – preventing it being brought down by motions of no confidence.

Neil Carmichael, a former select committee chairman who lost his Stroud seat last Thursday, said: “The DUP has the potential to push the Conservative party out to the right.

“On Brexit, I have argued that we need to come back to the middle, including people who voted to Remain. This has to be about where Britain goes – not just a chunk of Britain.

“And there’s Northern Ireland itself. The Government is apparently brokering a return to Stormont, but how can it if it has some of the politicians in its own camp?”

A former minister, Ed Vaizey, highlighted the danger of any DUP tie-up, saying: “I come from liberal wing of the Conservative party.

“I’m not going to support any legislation that I would regard as socially illiberal, or taking this country backwards.”

Sarah Wollaston, chairwoman of the health select committee, insisted that any deal with the DUP must not be allowed to influence policies on the death penalty, gay rights, education or abortion.

“I will always support the right for women to choose & access safe termination of pregnancy & will oppose any change to the legislation,” she tweeted.

“I will never agree to any dilution of LGBT rights. Creationism in schools? Hell no.

“If any of that is a condition of confidence and supply it simply won’t work.”

Alex Maskey, a Sinn Fein member of the Belfast Assembly, said a deal could “prove to be reckless” for Northern Ireland, adding: “The British public should have full scrutiny of the DUP and what that party represents.”

Earlier, Ms Davidson, who is gay, revealed she had demanded assurances from the Prime Minister over gay rights should the Tories do a deal with the DUP.

She again challenged her leader when she refused to say that Britain should pull out of the EU single market, as Ms May wants.

Instead, she said: “There’s an awful lot of issues surrounding Brexit that need to be discussed. Clearly, there is no majority government that’s come through after this election.

“That means we do have to listen to the other parties and that means we have to listen to others actors and agents – and that is exactly what we will do.”

Meanwhile, a survey by the ConservativeHome website further undermined the Prime Minister by revealing most Tory members want her to resign after her election failure.

Almost 60 per cent of grassroots Tories said the Prime Minister must fall on her sword after destroying her Commons majority.

Outside the Downing Street gates, anti-DUP protesters chanted “Tories out, refugees in” and “Tories out, Corbyn in”, as a petition against a deal between the two parties topped 500,000 signatures in just 12 hours.
Prime Minister Theresa May's closest advisers, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, resign as her Chiefs of Staff amid criticism over their role in the Conservative Party's election campaign.