Theresa May shed a tear as election result came in

Theresa May shed a tear as election result came in

Theresa May today revealed that she shed 'a little tear' when she heard the shock exit poll which predicted the Tory election disaster.

The Prime Minister said her husband Philip broke the news to her and gave her a hug to comfort her. 

Mrs May, who marks her first anniversary as PM today, said the news came as a 'complete shock'  and said she was 'devastated' by the verdict.

In her most revealing interview yet about the snap General Election, Mrs May lifted the lid on the emotional turmoil of the night. 

She told Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 5 Live that she did not watch the exit poll because 'I have a little bit of superstition about things like that'.

When her husband Philip came in to break the news to her, Mrs May said she 'didn't see the result coming' and it 'took a few minutes for it to sink in'.

She added: 'My husband gave me a hug and I got on the phone to CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters).'

She said it was 'hard' for her  husband to come and tell her the devastating news, and said he 'has been a huge support for me'. 

Asked if she cried after discovering the result, she said: 'Yes, a little tear.' 

In an interview in Downing Street this morning which lasted some 20 minutes, Mrs May gave a searing account of the events of the fateful night. 

She revealed her horror at watching her talented Conservative Party colleagues lose their seats in an election she had called.

Describing what was going through her mind as th e Tory party losses started to come trickling in, she said: 'I felt, I suppose, devastated really.'

She said she knew the campaign was 'not going perfectly' but she was confident they would do well in the count.

She said: 'The message I was getting from people I was speaking to and the comments we were getting back from a lot of people were that we were going to get a better result than we did.'

Asked how she felt when the scale of the losses became clear, Mrs May said: 'You are a human being (and) you have been through that experience.

Theresa May, pictured in today's interview, said she was devastated at the election result and that her husband Philip gave her a hug after breaking the news of the shock exit poll to her

Philip May was by his wife's side on June 9 when she faced the nation to say she was determined to stay on as Tory leader and Prime Minister despite her election disaster

Theresa May lost her trusted advisers Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, pictured on June 9 outside Tory Party campaign HQ, in the aftermath of the vote as Tory MPs lined up to blame the twosome for the failure of the election

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured on election night, beamed as the results came in showing that Labour had defied the polls to deny the Tories a majority in the House of Commons

'But I was there as leader of the party and as Prime Minister and I had a responsibility then, as we went through the night, to determine what we were going to do the next morning. 

'No, I didn't consider stepping down because I felt there was a responsibility there to ensure that the country still had a government.'

She added: 'It can be easy sometimes if something like this happens just to walk away and leave somebody else to deal with it.' 

Mrs May was widely criticised during the election campaign for being robotic in her interviews - earning her the nickname 'the Maybot'.

But in today's interview she gave an i nsight into her human side, revealing that she often gets her husband Philip to read newspaper articles about her because she is too superstitious to read them herself. 

CORBYN AND STURGEON MEET EU'S TOP NEGOTIATOR IN BREXIT WRECKING MISSION

Nicola Sturgeon meets EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels to talk about Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon are meeting the EU's chief negotiator in Brussels today in what critics fear will be a Brexit wrecking mission.

The Labour leader and Scottish First Minister are setting out their own priorities for the talks to Michel Barnier - despite him insisting he will only negotiate with the official Government representatives.

Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones is also taking part in meetings to make the case for Wales' priorities.

Ms Sturgeon was first into talks at the day of meetings inside the European Union headquarters in Brussels. 

The meetings come just days before Brexit Secretary David Davis returns to Brussels for the next round of official talks on Monday.

Mr Barnier said he will only negotiate with the Government but Mr Corbyn today made clear he would set out a rival position. 

He said: 'A Labour Brexit would look very different to the race-to-the-bottom tax haven backed by this Conservative Government.

'In contrast to the Conservatives' megaphone diplomacy, we will conduct relations with our European neighbours respectfully and in the spirit of friendship.

'Our strong links with our European sister parties gives Labour an advantage in reaching an outcome that works for both sides.'

Yet despite losing her overall majority, Mrs May said that she does not regret calling the doomed election.

She said: 'What I regret is that we didn't get across more the message of the sort of v ision I set out when I became Prime Minister.' 

During her year in No10 Mrs May has watched her sky high ratings tumble and her political authority evaporate in the aftermath of the election.

Her working majority of 17 was wiped out and instead she had to strike a deal to be propped up in government by the DUP's ten MPs in exchange for a promise to our £1billion into the coffers of northern Ireland.

Asked what advice she would tell her younger self, she said: 'Believe in yourself, always do the right thing and work hard to tackle injustice when you see it.' 

Her revealing account comes after she used a separate interview to suggest that  she will stay in Downing Street for 'the next few years' to deliver Brexit.

Her comment is a clear sign she will stand down before the next election - but that she will not be pushed out before Britain leaves the EU.

In an interview with The Sun she said she will remain her party's leader only for 'as long as they want me'.

She said: 'What I want to do is just recognise that there is a job to be done here, over the next few years. I want to get on with doing that job.' 

The comments follow weeks of fevered leadership speculation following the disastrous snap election result.

Despite suggestions she could face a challenge from one of her own MPs, no bid to unseat her has emerged.

As she prepares to mark one year in No10, Mrs May also admitted to several mistakes she made during the election campaign. She said she failed to put across to the public her determination to help those who are 'Just managing'.

Significantly, she accepted the Conservatives failed to talk up their great economic successes and jobs record.

Nor did they manage to undermine Labour's endless manifesto pledges, show what a disaster it would be.

She also admitted failing to deliver a positive enough message of hope for young people.

But Mrs May said that despite 'some pretty depressing moments' she was never tempted to walk away from the job.

And she insisted calling the election was the right thing to do and not a mistake.

Mrs May said: 'I can see why some might say that, as it did not go quite according to plan.

'There were good reasons why I called it, and I continue to think that it was the right thing to do'.

While Labour lost the General Election, Jeremy Corbyn - pictured outside his Islington home after the results came in - looked like the victor after the Tories lost a string of seats 

Jeremy Corbyn, pictured yesterday, has said that he is waiting in the wings to form a government if Mrs May - who is being propped up in No 10 by the DUP - and her government topples

She said: 'I set out a year ago, when I stood on the steps here, the sort of vision I had. The sort of country I wanted us to be.

'I don't think that vision came through sufficiently during the campaign. 

'That is what we were working on right up to the election, and it is what we are now working on. But that did not come across during the election campaign.'

'And I don't think we talked enough about what we had achieved in terms of the economy and jobs.

'We did not do enough not just on the positives of the economic record we had, but also the negatives of what Jeremy Corbyn's manifesto would mean fo r people.'

At the weekend it emerged former chief whip Andrew Mitchell, a close ally of Brexit Secretary David Davis told a dinner of Conservative MPs that the prime minister needed to be replaced.

One MP who was at the dinner said: 'Mr Mitchell effectively said [May] was dead in the water. He said she was weak, had lost her authority, couldn't go on and we needed a new leader. Some of us were very surprised and disagreed with him.'

Ministers dismissed his remarks as the result of too much 'warm prosecco'.

 

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