What is a hung parliament and what happens if no party wins a majority?

A HUNG parliament means no party has won enough seats to secure an overall majority.

Here's everything you need to know about a hung parliament.

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What is a hung parliament?

A hung parliament happens when no single political party wins a majority in the House of Commons at a general election.

In the UK, a party must win 326 of the 650 seats to secure an majority in a general election.

What happens in a hung parliament?

When there is no majority, whoever was the prime minister before the general election will stay in power afterwards.

So if a hung parliament happens tonight, Boris Johnson will continue as PM.

He will then have two options: form a coalition with at least one other party; or rule as a minority government.

He could also choose to resign.

If both options fail, Parliament can be dissolved and a fresh election called.

What hung parliaments have taken place in the UK?

In total, there have only been six hung parliament scenarios in the UK since the beginning of the 20th Century:

• In 2017, former Prime Minister Theresa May's gamble in calling an early General Election backfired spectacularly leading to a hung parliament. She called on the DUP as support.
• In 2010 David Cameron was forced to form a coalition with the Lib Dems, with Nick Clegg becoming Deputy PM.
• In 1974, 318 seats were needed for a majority with Conservative leader Edward Heath winning 297 and Harold Wilson securing 301. Heath resigned allowing Wilson to become PM, but without a majority he called another election in September, that saw Labour win 319, enough for a majority government.
• The nation went to the polls again in 1929 resulting in a hung parliament. Labour's Ramsay McDonald became PM with support from the Liberals, but an election was called again in 1931.
  
• In 1923, Tory Stanley Baldwin failed to form a coalition allowing Labour's Ramsay McDonald to take office as a minority government. He called a General Election the next year in which Baldwin won a massive majority.
• Britain's first hung parliament of the 20th Century was in January 1910 when the Liberal Party were elected under Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and governed as a minority. An election was called for December that year with Asquith failing to win a majority again and therefore forming a government with support from the Irish Nationalists.