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Key Tory cabinet members including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis will keep their roles in Theresa May's minority Goverment.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon will also keep their positions, Downing Street said.

Mr Johnson told Sky News he was "delighted to be reappointed" and said there is "lots of great work to do" for the "greatest country on earth".

There had been speculation that Mr Hammond in particular would be vulnerable if the Prime Minister had been returned - as she had hoped - with an increased majority.

But after seeing her Commons majority wiped out on a night of humiliation for the Tories, she was left with limited room for manoeuvre when it came to re-shaping her top team.

As Britain woke up to a hung parliament, which will now be led as a Tory minority with support from the Democratic Unionist Party, bookies slashed the odds on Mr Johnson becoming the next Prime Minister despite Mrs May’s refusal to resign.

Odds on the former Mayor of London as favourite to succeed the current Prime Minister dropped to 7/1 on , who resisted mounting pressure to quit after her snap election backfired.

Mr Johnson was 66/1 to be the UK's next Prime Minister before polls closed on Thursday night, but those odds tumbled to just 7/1 as the knives came out for the Tory leader over her party's failure to secure a majority.

Earlier, Mrs May announced that she intended to carry on in No 10 at the head of a minority government with the support of the Democratic Unionists (DUP) after falling eight seats short of an overall majority.

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The move was denounced by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who called on her to stand aside and allow him to form an administration, declaring: "We are ready to serve".

However, Mrs May insisted that, as the leader of the largest party in the new parliament, she had a duty to act in the "national interest".

"As more results started to come through, it became clear that we were the party that had won most seats and most votes and felt it was incumbent on us at a critical time in our the country to form a government in the national interest," she said.

General Election Night 2017 - In pictures 31 show all General Election Night 2017 - In pictures 1/31 Theresa May waiting in Maidenhead for the result to be announced Alastair Grant/AP 2/31 Labour leaders Jeremy Corbyn at the Election count in Islington Jeremy Selwyn 3/31 Leader of the Liberal democrats Tim Farron celebrates beating Conservative party candidate James Airey, Independent candidate Mr Fishfinger and Labour candidate Eli Aldridge following the announcement of the results at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre Dave Thompson/Getty Images 4/31 Armed police outside the home of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in north London Yui Mok/PA 5/31 Vince Cable pictured with his wife Rachel, is elected once again in Twickenham after losing his seat in 2015 Alex Lentati 6/31 Nick Clegg loses his Sheffield Hallam seat and is no longer an MP Sky News 7/31 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts as her party loses their seat at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Robert Parry/EPA 8/31 Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, right, tries to high-five with Labour's Emily Thornberry after arriving for the declaration at his constituency in London Frank Augstein/AP 9/31 Ballot boxes are run in during the count at the Silksworth Community Pool, Tennis and Wellness Centre as the general election count begins Ian Forsyth/Getty Images 10/31 Boris Johnson at the Brunel Indoor Athletic Centre for the declaration of his Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency which he retained Rex Features 11/31 Zac Goldsmith with his mother Lady Annabel Goldsmith Alex Lentati 12/31 Close call for Zac Goldsmith as a recount is called for Richmond Park Alex Lentati 13/31 Labour supporters react as Paul Sweeney (not pictured) is announced as the new MP for Glasgow North East for the British Parliamentary Elections at the Emirates Arena EPA 14/31 UKIP leader Paul Nuttall at the Peter Paine Performance Centre in Boston during the counting Joe Giddens/PA 15/31 Labour's Rupa Huq celebrates with her sister, TV presenter Konnie Huq, after increasing her majority from 274 to 13,807 in Ealing Central and Acton Matt Writtle 16/31 Displays show the current rate of the British pound against the Japanese yen and a news program reporting on the British general election at a foreign money brokerage in Tokyo Roru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images 17/31 Theresa May leaving CCHQ this morning Jeremy Selwyn 18/31 Police watch as counting staff sort through ballots at a counting centre in Islington, London Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images 19/31 Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd's speaks after retaining her seat in Hastings Kevin Coombs/Reuters 20/31 Prime Minister Theresa May's chief of staff Nick Timothy and Joint-chief of staff Fiona Hill leave Conservative Party HQ in Westminster Rick Findler/PA 21/31 Patrons watch the results for Britain's election in London. Alex Salmond loses his seat Peter Nicholls/Reuters 22/31 Chuka Umunna kisses with his wife, Alice Sullivan at the London Borough of Lambeth UK Parliamentary Elections Lucy Young 23/31 Prime Minister Theresa May waits with other candidates for the results to be declared at the count centre in Maidenhead Geoff Cadick/AFP/Getty Images 24/31 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh Jane Barlow/PA 25/31 Vote counters wait for Ballot boxes to arrive at the Peter Paine Performance Centre where the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness Getty Images 26/31 Kate Hoey who retained her Vauxhall seat at the London Borough of Lambeth Lucy Young 27/31 Conservative's Gavin Barwell loses his seat to Labour at Croydon Central Chris Gorman 28/31 Labour's Sarah Jones takes the Conservative seat of Croydon Chris Gorman 29/31 DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds cheer as Emma Little Pengelly is elected to the South Belfast constituency at the Titanic exhibition centre in Belfast Niall Carson/PA 30/31 Exit poll results from Britain's general election are projected on to the BBC's Broadcasting House, London Jeff Overs/BBC 31/31 The front door of 10 Downing Street in Westminster, London, as votes are being counted in the 2017 General Election Rick Findler/PA 1/31 Theresa May waiting in Maidenhead for the result to be announced Alastair Grant/AP 2/31 Labour leaders Jeremy Corbyn at the Election count in Islington Jeremy Selwyn 3/31 Leader of the Liberal democrats Tim Farron celebrates beating Conservative party candidate James Airey, Independent candidate Mr Fishfinger and Labour candidate Eli Aldridge following the announcement of the results at the Westmoorland and Lonsdale constituency count at Kendal Leisure Centre Dave Thompson/Getty Images 4/31 Armed police outside the home of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in north London Yui Mok/PA 5/31 Vince Cable pictured with his wife Rachel, is elected once again in Twickenham after losing his seat in 2015 Alex Lentati 6/31 Nick Clegg loses his Sheffield Hallam seat and is no longer an MP Sky News 7/31 Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts as her party loses their seat at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Robert Parry/EPA 8/31 Britain's Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, right, tries to high-five with Labour's Emily Thornberry after arriving for the declaration at his constituency in London Frank Augstein/AP 9/31 Ballot boxes are run in during the count at the Silksworth Community Pool, Tennis and Wellness Centre as the general election count begins Ian Forsyth/Getty Images 10/31 Boris Johnson at the Brunel Indoor Athletic Centre for the declaration of his Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency which he retained Rex Features 11/31 Zac Goldsmith with his mother Lady Annabel Goldsmith Alex Lentati 12/31 Close call for Zac Goldsmith as a recount is called for Richmond Park Alex Lentati 13/31 Labour supporters react as Paul Sweeney (not pictured) is announced as the new MP for Glasgow North East for the British Parliamentary Elections at the Emirates Arena EPA 14/31 UKIP leader Paul Nuttall at the Peter Paine Performance Centre in Boston during the counting Joe Giddens/PA 15/31 Labour's Rupa Huq celebrates with her sister, TV presenter Konnie Huq, after increasing her majority from 274 to 13,807 in Ealing Central and Acton Matt Writtle 16/31 Displays show the current rate of the British pound against the Japanese yen and a news program reporting on the British general election at a foreign money brokerage in Tokyo Roru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images 17/31 Theresa May leaving CCHQ this morning Jeremy Selwyn 18/31 Police watch as counting staff sort through ballots at a counting centre in Islington, London Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images 19/31 Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd's speaks after retaining her seat in Hastings Kevin Coombs/Reuters 20/31 Prime Minister Theresa May's chief of staff Nick Timothy and Joint-chief of staff Fiona Hill leave Conservative Party HQ in Westminster Rick Findler/PA 21/31 Patrons watch the results for Britain's election in London. Alex Salmond loses his seat Peter Nicholls/Reuters 22/31 Chuka Umunna kisses with his wife, Alice Sullivan at the London Borough of Lambeth UK Parliamentary Elections Lucy Young 23/31 Prime Minister Theresa May waits with other candidates for the results to be declared at the count centre in Maidenhead Geoff Cadick/AFP/Getty Images 24/31 Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh Jane Barlow/PA 25/31 Vote counters wait for Ballot boxes to arrive at the Peter Paine Performance Centre where the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness Getty Images 26/31 Kate Hoey who retained her Vauxhall seat at the London Borough of Lambeth Lucy Young 27/31 Conservative's Gavin Barwell loses his seat to Labour at Croydon Central Chris Gorman 28/31 Labour's Sarah Jones takes the Conservative seat of Croydon Chris Gorman 29/31 DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds cheer as Emma Little Pengelly is elected to the South Belfast constituency at the Titanic exhibition centre in Belfast Niall Carson/PA 30/31 Exit poll results from Britain's general election are projected on to the BBC's Broadcasting House, London Jeff Overs/BBC 31/31 The front door of 10 Downing Street in Westminster, London, as votes are being counted in the 2017 General Election Rick Findler/PA

While Mrs May said her top ministers would remain in post, she hinted her two close aides, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill - blamed by many Tory MPs for the party's disastrous campaign - could face the chop.

"Other personnel issues are for other days," she said.

Read more Theresa May: Ousted Tories did not deserve to lose their seats

Speaking to Sky News, a shattered Mrs May, said she was “sorry” for the 12 MPs, including eight frontbenchers, who lost their seats.