What was behind the unexpected general election results - and what should we learn?

BBC Question Time

Conservative Chris Grayling says on Question Time that he does not believe in the concept of "hard Brexit and soft Brexit".

"We voted for control over the flow over people in and out of the country.

"What Theresa May has set out is the only realistic way to set out a deal with the EU. We want a collaborative agreement," he says.

Gary O'Donoghue
Political Correspondent

The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, has said initial discussions have already taken place with the Democratic Unionist Party, as Theresa May attempts to put together a plan to command a majority in Parliament.

Speaking on Question Time, Mr Grayling wouldn't say what had been discussed but said Theresa May would have "sensible negotiations" with the DUP.

"We will see where we end up," he added.

BBC Question Time

Armando Iannucci says on Question Time that the UK didn't vote for a hard Brexit, and that his "beef" with Theresa May is that she hasn't discussed the terms of the exit from the European Union with the country.

And he has a suggestion.

"Have a negotiating team made up of the main parties, do the deal, and then have another election."

Labour MP Emma Dent Coad's victory in the London seat of Kensington is the final result to be returned in the 2017 General Election.

It gives the Conservatives 318 seats and Jeremy Corbyn's party 262.

Labour has gained the last constituency to declare.

Conservative candidate Victoria Borwick received 16,313 votes; while Emma Dent Coad, the Labour candidate received 16,333.

It means the new MP for the Kensington constituency is Labour - by a margin of 20 votes.

A number of current and former European politicians have been tweeting about the result.

Manfred Weber, chairman of the centre-right EPP bloc of parties in the European Parliament, said the two negotiating sides were in a very different situation:

Guy Verhofstadt, president of the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe bloc in the European Parliament, said the poll was an "own goal":

German presidential candidate Martin Schulz from Germany's Socialist party - who will be challenging Angela Merkel in elections in September - has tweeted his congratulations to Jeremy Corbyn and says they have arranged to meet soon.

"Those who treat politics as a game lose. After Cameron, May now knows this too. I hope that UK-EU negotiations will not now become even more difficult," he said.

Former Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski was scathing about the decision to call the election.

And there was perhaps a whiff of schadenfreude in this tweet from former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, referring to one of Mrs May's catchphrases.

BBC Question Time

Alastair Campbell strongly criticises a potential coalition between the Conservatives and Northern Ireland's DUP.

"Our government is the mediator between the DUP and Sinn Fein. How can the government be the mediator when the DUP are going to be part of our government?" he asks.

He says Theresa May is putting peace in Northern Ireland at risk with a "sordid, dangerous, disgraceful deal".

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling responds by saying that the Conservatives are going to have "sensible conversations" with the DUP.

BBC Question Time

Writer and director Armando Iannucci says that Theresa May "shouldn't resign today, that will happen in good time".

"What she did today was be absolutely tone deaf to what happened last night," he says.

"We want some kind of reaching out across the aisles. She's retreated to her default position."

He also says that her talk of a hard Brexit has "frightened" people.

The SNP's Stewart Hosie believes the prospects of another Scottish independence referendum could have motivated Unionists top come out to vote in the general election.

BBC Question Time

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says that Theresa May commands the largest party in the Commons, and that the "last thing she should be doing is stepping away".

"We need her to get on with delivering Brexit negotiations," he adds.

BBC Question Time

Speaking on Question Time, former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell says Theresa May has "lost authority" for taking an "enormous gamble".

He also says he is worried about the deal with the DUP, as the Toris have now "gone into bed with a party from which previous governments studiously neutral".

"She doesn't have to resign, but I don't think she can govern for long. She's a busted flush."

Some of the odder moments in the election have prompted some amusing commentary online.

Image source, Huffington Post

The general election has given birth to a range of comments and political musings across several websites.

Paul Waugh of the Huffingon Post, external writes about the "Five Things We Learned From An Extraordinary Night." This includes: "The woman whom we were told was the very opposite of a gambler ended up trashing her own brand after listening to the siren voices of her advisers and betting the house on a snap poll."

Similar criticism of the PM is to be found in the Spectator,, external where Rod Liddle writes of Theresa May being "dead meat," adding that her decision to call an election was "arrogant and complacent - and so was the subsequent campaign".

It was, according to Peter McLeod of politics.co.uk, external, a "good night for Labour but there are lessons to learn". These include snap elections being "inherently risky"; it being "difficult to win with a bad economy", and "parties need to make clear offers to the electorate that tell them a story about how they will make the country better".

In the NME,, external which came out in support of Jeremy Corybn, young people gave the reasons why they voted in the election - the biggest factor being a preference for one party’s policies over another’s.

And Buzzfeed wrote about the MPs, external who won their seats literally just by a handful of votes. Spare a thought for those who, by the same token, just missed out.

Senior political journalists have spoken about the use of social media by Jeremy Corbyn.

The Times' Sam Coates told the BBC the Labour leader found "new ways of communicating" with voters.

As a result, he says Theresa May is now on "death row" and will be replaced at some point. But he says the Conservative Party currently does not have "the energy" to replace her.

The Telegraph's Kate McCann says Mr Corbyn successfully used online videos, Twitter and other social media tools "much better than the Conservatives did".

She says there was a "sense of excitement" about Mr Corbyn's campaign that was lacking from Mrs May's.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Tory minister Anna Soubry has called for Theresa May to sack her two chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill.

Asked by Channel 4 News if they should be fired, the Broxtowe MP said: "Yes."

It comes as the ConservativeHome website, edited by former MP Paul Goodman, said the "consensus" among Tory backbenchers and ministers is that Ms Hill and Mr Timothy "must go".

The things journalists have to do to get the right angles...

Interviewers and social media commentators have been challenging Tory MPs on how they feel about working with the DUP when it is opposed to same-sex marriage and is anti-abortion.

The Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who openly gay, has tweeted a link to a blog post about a speech she gave in Belfast in support of equal marriage rights.

You can read more about the DUP and its policies here.

Senior industry figures are warning politicians they must urgently clarify their position on Brexit.