British Prime Minister Theresa May

:: British Prime Minister Theresa May said Tuesday she has to win a “battle of ideas” in Parliament and the country after losing her majority in last month’s election.

In a speech both conciliatory and defiant, May urged her opponents to contribute their “views and ideas” to help shape government policy.

May spoke nearly a year after taking office, and just over a month after she suffered a setback from voters in a June 8 snap election.

She acknowledged that the election result was “not what I wanted,” but said she remained committed to building a fairer Britain as the country leaves the EU.

May was speaking at the launch of a report on how to guarantee protections for the growing number of workers in the “gig economy.”

May became prime minister on July 13, 2016 through a Conservative Party leadership contest after predecessor David Cameron resigned when voters decided, against his advice, to quit the EU. She called an early election in an attempt to bolster her majority and strengthen her authority during Brexit talks.

The gamble backfired when voters stripped the Conservatives of their majority in Parliament and boosted the number of seats held by the left-of-center Labour Party.

London mayor eyes ‘inclusive’ city

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he has recruited a team of architects and designers to help build socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable communities, as the British capital’s population grows toward 10 million people.

Khan said the city, with a population of 8.7 million, faces a “mammoth task” to rectify a failure to deal with decades of poorly planned growth, and begin building the 50,000 new homes Londoners need each year.

“Today, we face another wave of growth, the likes of which we’ve not seen for a century,” Khan said in a speech at the London School of Economics (LSE) on Monday to launch his “Good Growth by Design” program.

“In recent years, too much focus has been dedicated to developing the high-price, high-rise central London market. These expensive developments… haven’t delivered the genuinely affordable homes ordinary Londoners desperately need.”

Tony Travers, director of LSE’s research center for London, said the city’s population is predicted to rise by 100,000 a year, exceeding 10 million by 2030.