UK Prime Minister Theresa May should step down after losses for the Conservative Party in Thursday's general election, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Friday.

May "lost Conservative seats, lost votes, lost support and lost confidence. I would have thought that's enough to go," Corbyn said after being re-elected in his Islington North constituency in central London.

Corbyn also said that both the Labour Party and its supporters should be proud of what has been achieved and that his party is ready to serve the country. 

The Conservatives were poised to win the snap election but lost 12 seats as polling stations across the country closed on Thursday evening.  

British Prime Minister Theresa May. /VCG Photo

May surprised the country in April by calling the snap election, seeking to shore up her 17-seat majority ahead of two years of gruelling talks with the European Union over the UK's departure from the bloc. 

For Corbyn, the ruling party's losses showed voters had "turned their backs on the politics of austerity". 

"What's happened is people have said they have had quite enough of austerity," he said, adding it was time for a government that is "truly representative of all the people of this country."

Corbyn said his campaign had upended the country's political landscape. "Whatever the final result, our positive campaign has changed politics for the better," he said in a tweet after winning 29 seats. 

(Source: AFP)