“If she can get the first Queen’s speech passed, that would be a confidence booster – because if she can pass one [bill], maybe she can pass more and this can work,” said Caroline Simmons from the UK Investment Office at UBS Wealth Management, who said she fears for the state of the economy.

“For the immediate term this [hung parliament] doesn’t bode well. In the run-up to the election, housing transactions were lower and activity levels were not quite what they were before the election was announced, and I wonder if that will continue.”

Mrs May argues that “no [Brexit] deal is better than a bad deal”. Analysts hope this will be a tactic to extract cooperation from the EU, rather than a plan to leave with no trade deal in place.

“If you believe this [claim that no deal is better than a bad deal] is part of a negotiating tactic, then once they get into the conference chamber, the agreements are much more amicable. That is the sort of thing I think will help give businesses a little more confidence that we’re not heading to the edge of the abyss,” said economist Peter Dixon at Commerzbank.