Theresa May plunges UK into uncertainty as Tory majority is slashed ahead of Brexit talks

Theresa May's decision to call a snap general election in a bid to boost her mandate has spectacularly backfired, plunging the UK into unnecessary uncertainty with just over a week before Brexit talks begin.

The ruling Conservatives are set to lose 17 seats, with Labour making a surprise gain of 34 MPs in the House of Commons, according to predictions.

The result comes after a lacklustre campaign from May, who refused to take part in any head-to-head TV debates with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and faced a backlash over a so called "dementia tax".

The policy threatened elderly people in England would have to pay for their social costs if they have assets worth more than £100,000 ($127,530) .

May, who succeeded David Cameron in the wake of the EU referendum result last June, claimed to offer "strong and stable" leadership. But her play-it-safe attitude and wooden delivery failed to win the British electorate over, leaving her political career in jeopardy.

The star of the Tory show has been Ruth Davidson, the photo-op loving Scottish Conservative leader, who has helped take seats off the SNP and put the brakes on Nicola Sturgeon's calls for a second Scottish Independence referendum.

Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond lost his seat to the Conservatives alongside Angus Robertson, the now ex-leader of the SNP at Westminster. Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has been vindicated and yet again proved his critics wrong, particularly the UK's adversarial right-wing press.

He may not be heading for Number 10, but the left-winger has cut the Tory majority and created a hung parliament, where no one party had a majority of MPs in the House of Commons.

"People have said that they've had quite enough of austerity politics...They are voting for hope and turning their backs on austerity," Corbyn declared.

"I am very proud of the results that are coming in all over the country tonight of people voting for hope, voting for hope in the future and turning their backs on austerity.

"If there is a message from tonight's result, it's this: the prime minister called the election because she wanted a mandate.

"Well, the mandate she has got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost votes and lost confidence. I would have thought that's enough to go, actually, and make way for a government that will be truly representative of all of this country."

Elsewhere, the Ukip vote collapsed, with Labour and the Tories benefitting. The Eurosceptic party's leader Paul Nuttall MEP was humiliated as he came third behind Labour and Conservatives in Boston and Skegness, the most pro-Brexit seat in the country.

Nigel Farage, who has been concentrating on his media career since quitting as Ukip leader, could be making a return to frontline politics if Brexit is in jeopardy under a Corbyn-led coalition government.

Finally, it was a mixed night for the pro-EU Liberal Democrats as former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg lost his Sheffield Hallam seat to Labour, while his party was projected to gain six seats.

"Simply holding our own would be a good result. And there will be no deals if there's a hung parliament," a Liberal Democrat source told IBTimes UK. What will Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, make of all of this?