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Here's a brief explanation of how the U.K.'s system works, and why May's win, was really a loss.

How does the U.K. government work?

Much like Congress, the British Parliament is formed of two houses; the House of Commons, which is 650 directly elected lawmakers from around the country, and the upper house, the House of Lords, made up of about 800 members.

Unlike the Senate, however, members of the House of Lords are not elected to that chamber and wield less direct power. Their role in governance is less direct and far less visible to the public. For the purposes of the election this week, this explanation will not go into detail on the Lords, Ladies and Peers' role, but more information is available here.

Like all general elections inwhen she was personally riding a 20-point lead in opinion polls, and eager to solidify her party's control of the House of Commons. Parliament granted her wish and it was scheduled for Thursday, June 8.

On Friday, June 9, she was almost certainly regretting her gamble. Many of the 650 seats in the House of Commons were retained by their previous occupants, but dozens of seats swung, mostly Conservative seats which went to the rival Labour Party.

In the end, May's decision robbed the Conservatives, or "Tories" as they're often called, of their comfortable 330-seat majority. On Friday, with just one seat still undeclared, the Tories had just 318 seats in the Commons.

What does 'forming a government' mean?

Any party with a 326-seat majority in the House of Commons has the