Theresa May says she ‘shed a tear’ after election night disaster
Prime Minister Theresa May says she shed “a little tear” when she learned the results of the exit poll on general election night.
May told BBC radio 5 she heard about the results of the exit poll, which suggested she would lose her majority, from her husband Philip. She said she shed a tear when the pair embraced.
“It was when I heard the exit poll. To be honest with you, I didn’t actually watch the exit poll myself – I have a little bit of superstition about things like that.
“My husband watched it for me and came and told me and I was shocked at the result that had come through in the exit poll. It took a few minutes for it to sort of sink in, what that was telling me.
“My husband gave me a hug and then I got on the phone to CCHQ, the Conservative party, to find out what had happened.”
Asked whether she cried, she said: “Yes, a little tear.”
May said up until election night, she had been told that the Conservatives were on course for a good result. Although the exit poll forecast a result that was slightly lower than the eventual outcome, the Tories still lost their majority in Parliament forcing them into negotiating a deal with the DUP.
Speaking one year after she became the party leader, she said she took “responsibility” for the result and that there was “more” she could have done to tackle the concerns of voters.
“When it came to the actual result there were a lot of people within the party who had been very close to the campaign who were genuinely shocked by the result as it came through.
“We didn’t see it coming, I don’t think many people in the Labour party saw it coming.”
It was previously reported that May was met with a “stony silence” when she arrived at Tory party HQ later in the night. According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, one Conservative staffer began to vomit as the results rolled in.
