British election: What's a 'hung Parliament' and what happens now?

LONDON — What is a "hung Parliament"?

It's what happens during a British election when no single party wins a majority in Parliament's 650-seat House of Commons. That usually requires the party with the most seats to seek a partnership with other parties to reach the necessary 326 seats.

That's what Prime Minister Theresa said she would do Friday following a poor showing for her Conservative Party, which wound up with 319 seats in Thursday's elections, a loss of 12. She said she would try to form a governing partnership with the small Northern Ireland party, which won 10 seats.

British media reported that there will be no formal coalition as neither party thinks it is necessary to strike an official deal.

It's still possible, though unlikely, for the party that came in second to form a governing coalition, should May fail to reach a majority. Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party won 261 seats , a gain of 29, and would face a tougher challenge to get to 326.

A hung Parliament is historically rare: There have only been five since 1900: 1909, 1929, 1974, 2010, 2017.

Protocol allows the party with the most seats to have the first chance to form a new government. Queen Elizabeth plays a formal role by authorizing the formation of a new government, but she is not involved in how that is done. May sought an won her approval Friday to form a government.

There is no official time limit to how long this process can take.

During the last hung Parliament, in 2010, it took five days for Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to work out a deal with the Liberal Democrats.

Still there is pragmatic deadline approaching: Tuesday. That is when Parliament begins a new session, so May needs to form a government by then or face calls to resign.

If neither the Conservatives nor Labour can form a majority coalition, each can try to rule as a minority party by entering a "confidence and supply agreement," which requires informal support from other parties for key votes on an ad hoc basis.

However, this arrangement is obviously unstable.

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