The results of the UK General Election 2017 are filtering in as analysts predict a hung parliament.
London-based analysts from Japanese bank Nomura estimates Ms May's Conservatives are on track to win 332 seats based on exit polls and seats declared so far. But Sky News predicts they will gain between 308 and 328 seats.
The BBC forecasts the Conservatives to win 318 seats and Labour 267.
A party needs 326 seats to form a majority in the 650-seat parliament.
Britain's Opposition Labour Party is leading with 247 seats and the Conservative Party has 229. The Scottish National Party has 33 seats, the Democratic Unionist Party and the Liberal Democrats have 10 each.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn told supporters on election night Ms May had lost her mandate.
"This election was called in order for the prime minister to gain a large majority in order for her to assert her authority," he said in London.
"If there is a message from tonight's results, it's this: the Prime Minister called this election because she wanted a mandate," Corbyn said. "Well the mandate she's got is lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence."
"I would have thought that's enough to go, and make way for a government that will be truly representative of all of the people of this country."
Ms May says she knows the country needs a period of stability and whatever the results, the Conservatives will fulfill its duty to provide it.
The election comes at a pivotal time in British history as it negotiates a complicated exit from the European Union, the first country to leave the bloc.
Former finance minister George Osborne, who Ms May ousted from her Cabinet, told ITV that Ms May will face a "huge post-mortem" for calling the snap general election in April. "People will start to ask questions... about the future of the direction of the Conservative Party," he said.
UK Election: What's at stake
The first exit poll showed the Conservatives were set to win 314 seats in the UK General Election, falling short of a majority in the 650-seat parliament which would leave UK with a hung parliament.
The Labour Party is predicted to win 266 seats, the Scottish National Party 34 seats, down significantly from 54, and the Liberal Democrat Party to win 14 seats.
An election model from Japanese bank Nomura, however, has projected the Conservatives to win 338 seats, which would give them a majority.
London-based analysts made the prediction based on the exit poll results and the first 15 seats to declare.
There are 76 seats that are still too close to call, a BBC analysis reports.
A party must secure 326 seats to command a majority. If it doesn't, there is a "" and the party with the most seats attempts to form a majority.
Former Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, says he doesn't believe the Liberal Democrats would support a Conservative administration if it fell short of a majority while Jeffrey Donaldson of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) says he would negotiate with it.
Paul Hollingsworth from economic research consultancy Capital Economics says if the exit poll is correct, the economy looks set to "face a period of uncertainty about the outlook for policy, Brexit and the possibility of another election".
Former UK finance minister George Osborne says a hung parliament would be "completely catastrophic for the Conservatives".
"It's difficult to see, if these numbers were right, how they would put together the coalition to remain in office. But equally it's quite difficult looking at those numbers to see how Labour could put together a coalition so it's on a real knife edge," he said.
Financial analyst Jordan Rochester says: "This is the hung parliament territory, it's also what we had for the last election pretty much.
"But then the real numbers on the night came up with a majority, so it's not over yet, folks, but we possibly have the Labour + SNP + Lib Dem Coalition possibility in play here."
The polls were close to the actual result in 2005 and 2015, but it could be wrong. In 2015 it suggested the Tories would fall short of a majority at 316 but the final vote put them at 330.
Figures from both leading parties are treating the exit poll with caution.
"We do need to see some actual results before we can interpret this one way or the other," said Defence Minister Michael Fallon.
Labour's spokesman on finance John McDonnell says, "We have to have some scepticism about all polls at the moment.
"Let's see some results before we come to some conclusions," he said.
The final poll from Ipsos puts May and her Conservative Party at 44 per cent, Labour at 36 per cent, Liberal Democrats at 7 per cent and the UK Independence Party at 4 per cent.
Polling experts have issued a range of results with one shock model even predicting May could lose her working majority of 17 in the 650-seat House of Commons.
A final poll by YouGov on Wednesday showed Conservatives seven points ahead of Labour, while ICM gave May's party a 12-point lead.
Pound tumbles
The British pound fell sharply Thursday after an exit poll suggested Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives could lose their majority after losing seats in the general elections.
The British currency was trading at $1.2751, down 1.5 percent from the day-before level.
-With AFP and Reuters
