A few hours ago Theresa May thought she was going to emerge from this election as the strongest Conservative prime minister since Margaret Thatcher.
Now she faces the humiliation of being the shortest tenant of 10 Downing Street in almost a century.
Jeremy Corbyn, Nicola Sturgeon and even George Osborne have all already suggested Mrs May will now have little choice but to write her resignation letter, and they may be proved correct.
The prime minister has spoken this morning of the country requiring a “period of stability” as it enters Brexit talks, but a hung parliament would make that impossible.
Some commentators have even been suggesting that she could be alluding to the creation of some kind of national government featuring both the Conservatives and Labour – a prospect not easily envisaged.
Even if Mrs May does manage to cling onto power, most likely in a minority administration, it is only likely to be temporary.
Her reputation has been irreparably damaged, and it is a mess of her own making.
The prime minister did not have to call the snap election, and repeatedly promised she would not.
Her aides, however, apparently convinced her to seize what they viewed as a historic opportunity to wipe out Labour, while in the process giving her a mandate and a strong hand to take into Brexit negotiations.
The move has proved an miscalcultion of epic proportions, with the her team having completely underestimated Jeremy Corbyn, and run an abysmal campaign from start to finish.
She repeatedly promised to deliver “strong and stable” government, but has left the country in disarray, and likely facing a further election and a search for another prime minister.