British Prime Minister Theresa May attends a press conference at the end of a two-day EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
LONDON, July 13 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May admitted for the first time on Thursday that she shed a tear when she learned she had lost her overall majority in last month's general election.
May went into the June 8 snap election in a bid to boost her party in the House of Commons, but instead her Conservative Party only won 318 seats, eight short of the number need to command even a one-set majority.
When an exit poll was published as soon as the voting stations closed at 10 p.m. local time, the reality dawned on May that things had not turned out according to plan.
She said in an interview with BBC radio that she did not listen herself to the result of the poll, saying she had a "little bit of a superstition about things like that".
Instead her husband, Philip May, tuned in to watch the announcement on television.
"It came as a complete shock when Philip told me," said May in the interview. As well as losing her Commons majority the result led to calls for rival party leaders for her to stand down as prime minister, while some members of her own party also said she should leave 10 Downing Street.
Commenting on the moment she heard the exit poll result May said: "It took a few minutes for it to sink in. We didn't see that result coming. My husband gave me a hug."
She said she had felt devastated by the result, adding: "I knew the campaign was not going perfectly."
May said she did not think of resigning, saying she felt she had a responsibility to continue, adding it had been devastating to see some of her colleagues losing their seats.
She said she felt she had a responsibility to the country, saying the Conservatives "were the only party that could govern."
The prime minister said she knew her election campaign had not been perfect, but all the indications were that she would increase her Commons majority.
May started the campaign six weeks before voting day, holding a 20 point lead over her main rival, Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party.
The result of the exit poll, which turned out to be accurate, caused gasps of shock around the country, with the impact of the result still continuing as May negotiates Britain's exit from the European Union.
May was forced to do a deal costing a billion pounds with the small Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (DUP) to ensure their 10 MPs prop up the Conservative government on key votes in parliament.
Asked if she could guarantee having the numbers to get Brexit through the Commons, May said the first thing was to get a good Brexit deal. She added the DUP deal means they will support her Brexit legislation, but she hoped MPs from all political parties will back the Brexit.
The interview marked the day, a year ago, May walked into 10 Downing Street after succeeding David Cameron as prime minister. He quit when the result of the EU referendum showed that the leave side had won.
