Conservatives to form a coalition with the DUP

Theresa May has reached a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), allowing the Conservatives to form a coalition government with enough combined seats to proceed with their legislative programme. The support of the DUP's 10 seats will bring the combined majority to 328 and leaves the remaining parties no chance of forming their own majority. The Prime Minister has argued that this coalition is the best means of ensuring certainty through Brexit negotiations, which EU leaders have been quick to point out will still be worked to the original timetable. Sterling remains under pressure from today's election result, though the domestically focused FTSE 250 index has recovered earlier losses and is now up marginally, whilst the wider FTSE Allshare index has gained 0.86%, mainly due to Sterling weakness