The buildings of the Canary Wharf financial district | Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images UK political chaos could accelerate Brexodus Rather than scramble their Brexit contingency plans, many London bankers may decamp to the Continent sooner rather than later.

LONDON — The trickle of a Brexit exodus from the City of London could soon turn into a flood after Thursday's election results.

Having never wanted Britain to divorce the EU in the first place, many U.K.-based financial firms are fuming at the country's politicians for another botched election that will cause months of uncertainty for their businesses. The only option now, they say, may be to pack their stuff and head out the door sooner rather than later.

Rather than rejoice at the prospect that a weaker Theresa May will translate into a softer Brexit that they've been lobbying for, City bankers and executives are exasperated that another epic No. 10 Downing Street failure risks scrambling their Brexit contingency plans.

"While the Tories' negotiating position has never been crystal clear, now we don't even know who is going to discuss that unclear stance" in the upcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU, one banking executive said.

The key concern for financial services firms has always been that they would not know what Brexit will actually look like until very late in the negotiations. Today, there's one more worry. "A hung parliament widens the gap between business and political timelines," said Owen Lysak, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance, adding that this will force businesses to accelerate their contingency plans.

Across the City, lobbyists and bankers said Friday that it will take some time to figure out the full implications of a hung parliament for Brexit negotiations. Even the City of London Corporation's Deputy Policy Chairman Mark Boleat, who led the financial industry's lobbying efforts, said it's "too early" to know if the election results will lead to a softer Brexit.

But what the City wants hasn't changed.

"The approach of the City of London is twofold: We need a long transition period and some form of mutual recognition and market access [that goes beyond equivalence] — both will be very difficult to negotiate," Boleat said.

Ultimately, this is a mess Westminster has to deal with, he continued. "It comes down to what stance the government will take, and the process will be much more influenced by MPs rather than the City.”

That might not be a pretty sight after the Tories' loss of a parliamentary majority. As Barclays analyst Fabrice Montagne noted: "The risks of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit resulting from a small group of Conservative MPs blocking the ratification of the final agreement have increased."

To be sure, not all bankers are all shook up by the U.K.'s renewed political upheaval. "We've been dealing with uncertainty for a year now," one senior banker said. "This just adds more to it, but we've been planning for a worst-case Brexit scenario and we're ready to act on it."

Another banker echoed the sentiment, saying: "The market didn't plummet, and most of the FTSE100 index benefits from a lower sterling. I guess we'll just have to sit back and enjoy while politicians have a go at each other."

But neither bankers' patience nor British politicians' time to figure things out is infinite. If May gets stuck in a negotiations swamp, they'll be plenty of bankers who'll simply board a lifeboat to reach European shores.