UK snap elections 2017: May vows to 'ensure stability' after Maidenhead win

London: British Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble in calling an early election appeared Friday to have backfired spectacularly, after an exit poll suggested her Conservative Party could lose its majority in Parliament.

If confirmed, the result would lead to a period of political uncertainty and could throw Britain's negotiations to leave the European Union into disarray. The pound lost more than 2 cents against the dollar within seconds of the announcement.

The survey predicted the Conservatives would get 314 of the 650 seats and the Labour Party 266. It projected 34 for the Scottish National Party and 14 for the Liberal Democrats.

Live updates here (IST):

8:30 am: British ex-Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has lost his seat in Parliament, the biggest figure to fall so far in Britain’s surprising election.  He lost his Sheffield Hallam seat in northern England to the Labour Party early Friday.

8:00 am: Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron re-elected at Westmorland and Lonsdale.

7:55 am: This country needs stability, says Theresa May accompanied by her husband at Maidenhead, where she retained her seat.

7:49 am: May "has lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that's enough to go," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn after being re-elected in his Islington North constituency.

7:00 am: Angus Robertson, who led the SNP in the British parliament, lost to Conservative Douglas Ross in the constituency of Moray in northeast Scotland.