The arrangement will help prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.<\/b>
\nAssociated Press
LONDON \u2014 British Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal in principle with Northern Ireland\u2019s Democratic Unionist Party on Saturday to prop up the Conservative government, stripped of its majority in a disastrous election.
The result has demolished May\u2019s political authority, and she has also lost her two top aides, sacrificed in a bid to save their leader from being toppled by a furious Conservative Party.
But the ballot-box humiliation has seriously \u2013 and possibly mortally \u2013 wounded May\u2019s leadership just as Britain is about to begin complex exit talks with the European Union.
Downing Street chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, who resigned Saturday, formed part of May\u2019s small inner circle and were blamed by many Conservatives for the party\u2019s lackluster campaign and unpopular election platform, which alienated older voters with its plan to take away a winter fuel allowance and make them pay more for long-term care.
In a resignation statement on the Conservative Home website, Timothy conceded that the campaign had failed to communicate \u201cTheresa\u2019s positive plan for the future, \u201d and missed signs of surging support for the opposition Labour Party.
Some senior Tories had made the removal of Hill and Timothy a condition for continuing to support May, who has vowed to remain prime minister. May\u2019s party won 318 seats, 12 fewer than it had before May called a snap election, and eight short of the 326 needed for an outright majority. The main opposition Labour Party surpassed expectations by winning 262.
May announced later that Gavin Barwell \u2013 a former housing minister who lost his seat in Thursday\u2019s election \u2013 would be her new chief of staff. May said Barwell would help her \u201creflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for.\u201d
Conservative legislator Nigel Evans said the departure of the two aides was \u201ca start, \u201d but there needed to be changes to the way the government functioned in the wake of the campaign.
He said the Conservative election manifesto \u2013 which Hill and Timothy were key in drafting \u2013 was \u201ca full assault on the core Tory voters, who are senior citizens.\u201d
\u201cIt was a disaster, \u201d he said. \u201cOur manifesto was full of fear and the Labour Party\u2019s manifesto was full of promises.\u201d
Martin Selmayr, senior aide to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, responded to the resignations by tweeting the word \u201cbauernopfer\u201d \u2013 German for the sacrifice of a pawn in chess.
May\u2019s office said Saturday that the Democratic Unionist Party, which has 10 seats in Parliament, had agreed to a \u201cconfidence and supply\u201d arrangement with the government.
That means the DUP will back the government on key votes, but it\u2019s not a coalition government or a broader pact.
Downing Street said the Cabinet will discuss the agreement Monday.
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