Star comment: A terrible night for Theresa May

Safe pair of hands? It hasn't turned out that way. She has spectacularly fumbled it and created a terrible mess on the floor.

Brexit thrown up in the air. Strong and stable government down the pan, with a resurgent and reinvigorated opposition.

Theresa May asked the British people for their support over Brexit and for a thumping mandate which would strengthen her hand.

Her gamble has failed. The opposite has happened. Her hand has been hugely weakened and her authority has been undermined. She wanted stability and certainty. She can whistle for that now, and so can the country. Britain is more divided than ever.

Having put her personal leadership centre stage to such an extent that the word "Conservative" was literally in small print during her podium speeches, this is a humiliating personal rejection. She has not taken the Tories forwards. She has taken them backwards.

This puts her in the same pigeonhole of failed political gamblers as Ted Heath who went to the country on a "who governs Britain?" ticket in 1974 during a period of industrial strife.

For Jeremy Corbyn, it is a personal triumph. Turn back the clock to the start of the election campaign and Labour was trailing in the polls by double digit figures and he was regarded as a no-hoper, a turkey who wasn't even going to last to Christmas. The talk was of a Tory landslide.

A quick reality check. Labour has lost. But it does not feel that way. There is a wind of change which has injected new confidence into its ranks. His performances on the election stump energised supporters and seem in particular to have enthused the younger generation.

In the context of where Labour has been, and what had been expected, this is an excellent result.

There will now be a fascinating dynamic within the Labour Party. His position as the "people's leader" is cemented yet he will continue to be surrounded by Parliamentary colleagues who will now have to decide whether they can now find the confidence in him that they have hitherto been lacking.

They had no confidence in him because they thought he was a rubbish leader. He has had a good campaign, but will his flair for working the crowds translate into newly inspirational leadership of his own MPs?

This was a general election that Mrs May did not have to call. Leaving aside her own position and judgment, the United Kingdom has been left in a much worse position.

Talks are due to start on Brexit in just a few days. Britain's negotiating position is now severely hobbled by the need to look over shoulders to Westminster where the "single marketeers" are reinvigorated.

Smooth progress to a hard Brexit, soft Brexit, or any form of Brexit, is out of the question through nothing to do with the EU - it's because of the potential for ambushes and rebellions on the home front.

Less than a year ago the British people voted to leave the EU. The result of this general election leaves the manner and shape of that departure in grave doubt. With the Lib Dems receiving no credit from the electorate for their anti-Brexit stance, the Brexit dimension, if any, to be read into the result is one of confusion. The effect though may be to fashion what might be called a soft Brexit springboard.

The other big loser on the night has been the Scottish National Party. We have, at least for this generation, seen the high water mark of the Scottish independence movement. The tide has now turned and the prospect of another referendum north of the border has consequently receded.

Here are the headlines from the general election.

Labour lost, but won.

The Tories won - a victory with all the trappings of defeat, a victory without clapping or cheering, and a leader damaged beyond repair.

A disastrous result for Theresa May.