Could stirrings of the UK general election upheaval be seen ahead of time - on social networks?

If you were surprised by the general election result, particularly the relative gains made by Labour, you probably weren't keeping a close eye on Facebook.

Image source, Getty Images

There was a sharp distinction between Tory and Labour styles when it came to social media. The Conservative focus seemed to be sharp, paid-for attack ads. Labour's presence was much more organic, and perhaps more effective with it.

The chatter was happening in big groups - many of them filled with Jeremy Corbyn's most dedicated supporters, and closed to the general public. It was reflected in lists of most-shared stories, external, which were dominated by material sympathetic to Labour and hostile towards Theresa May's Conservatives.

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BBC Newsnight

As a reminder, backbenchers aren't the only ones concerned about the Conservatives relying on the DUP.

Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey is concerned about the impact of any deal on talks to revive Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration, which is currently suspended.

"Particularly in recent times, the British government have been working in cahoots with particularly the Democratic Unionist Party to the disadvantage of the political process here," he told BBC Newsnight on Friday.

The Electoral Commission is investigating claims by a newly-elected Labour MP that thousands of votes in his constituency were counted but not included in the total.

Luke Pollard, who won Plymouth Sutton and Devonport from the Conservatives, has figures seen by the BBC which show he would still have won comfortably.

There has been no confirmation of the numbers by the city council.

It follows problems with postal votes in Plymouth, when more than 1,500 packs were being delivered to people who had applied.

The Electoral Commission also said it had been contacted about so-called "administrative problems" in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Norman Smith
Assistant political editor

The BBC's Norman Smith says many Conservative MPs are concerned about the DUP's socially conservative views.

"Many Tory MPs take the view they have spent the last 20 years trying to distance the Conservative Party from those views and present a more modern, contemporary, tolerant, liberal stance on these issues and their real fear is contamination, that the Tory brand is damaged by association," he says.

Our assistant political editor says the lack of comment from senior Tories can be put down to No 10's desire for "complete radio silence" while Theresa May presses on with her plans for government.

But he adds: "The other side is there's no-one coming out saying 'Theresa May, she's terrific, what a great leader'. That is surprising. She's still prime minister, won the election... normally you would get senior colleagues coming out saying 'we now have a mandate'... Nothing."

Sky News

DUP politician Alastair Ross says the party will try to "maximise any advantage" they have during talks with the Tories.

"The DUP will certainly look to extract whatever price they can from the Conservative Party," he told Sky News.

Mr Ross, MLA for East Antrim since 2007, said the DUP would look to secure more money for Northern Ireland and influence Brexit negotiations.

But he said the party's stance against gay marriage and abortion would not be a priority as "they're devolved issues".

He added: "I think the DUP's priority will be around investment and our position in the UK."

BBC Radio 4

The Sun's political editor Tom Newton-Dunn tells the Week in Westminster that while Theresa May is "finished" longer term, people should not expect her to leave Downing Street imminently.He tells the programme:

In light of repeated failures on the part of pollsters and the media to read the runes of public opinion ahead of elections, Prof Charlie Beckett, of the London School of Economics, wonders whether it's time for an agenda for a new political journalism.

"Are we too obsessed by the horse-race of the opinion polls and ignoring policy and social trends?" he wonders in a blog post, external. "There’s lots of partisan argument but is there any truly critical independent insight?"

Prof Beckett concludes that the media must both "re-double efforts on the traditional journalism functions of fact-checking, investigation and revelation" and become more empathetic.

BBC News Channel

The newly elected MP for Croydon Central Sarah Jones says that Labour can "hopefully" win the next election because they had already "won" the argument with young people on tuition fees and education funding.

Ms Jones was asked what difference the election had made to the prospects of those who had voted Labour - the party still found itself in opposition, in spite of optimism surrounding its election performance.

She said:

A snap survey of more than 1,500 party members by the ConservativeHome website suggests that a majority believe Theresa May should resign as leader. The site says 59% believe she should go, with just 36% preferring her to remain in power.

"Obviously, party members and our readers are angry in the election’s aftermath, and it may be that if the question is asked again in a week’s time, it gets a different answer," the site reports, external.

The Huffington Post

More from Jonathan's blog, external

Commentators are reacting to the fractious atmosphere within Theresa May's team described by former director of communications Katie Perrior. One former Labour spin doctor reckons No 10 can't have been a happy place to be:

As a reminder, Mr McBride resigned from his post after sending emails discussing unfounded slurs against senior Conservatives to a former colleague who was considering setting up a pro-Labour gossip site. He later admitted smearing Mr Brown's rivals within his own party.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Perrior claimed that Mrs May's closest aides, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy, had bullied cabinet ministers among others. However, one columnist reckons the sidelining of senior colleagues is nothing new:

BBC Breakfast

On the subject of social rights including LGBT issues and same sex marriage, Conservative MP Ed Vaizey also sought to play down fears that DUP support for the government would lead to concessions in such areas. Mr Vaizey told BBC Breakfast: "I'm not going to support any legislation that I would regard as socially illiberal or taking this country backwards”.

“I don’t think we are going to go backwards in terms of social legislation, I think it’s part of our DNA now, it’s part of what makes us the great country that we are, and I’m sure the DUP understand that.”

Asked about the DUP’s opposition to same sex marriage, he said: “There are people in my party who didn’t support same sex marriage… but they remain colleagues of mine and working together we can achieve good things for the country.”

The Daily Mail

Read Quentin's piece here, external

BBC News Channel

Former arts minister Ed Vaizey said that he thought Theresa May was "definitely " the right person to lead the forthcoming negotiations in Brussels because she and Brexit Secretary David Davis had been preparing for the talks for a "considerable amount of time".

However Mr Vaizey, who supported the Remain campaign in the European referendum last year, said he wanted negotiations to be conducted in a manner that would "secure jobs and investment."

Mr Vaizey told the BBC:

Some 360,000 people have signed a petition to stop Conservative plans to join forces with the DUP.

The author of the petition, set up last night, called the deal a "disgusting, desperate attempt to stay in power".

The potential union has caused controversy over the Northern Irish party's standing on gay marriage and a hard Brexit.

BBC Breakfast

Back in Warwickshire, BBC Breakfast's John Maguire hears from farmer George Browning at the Kenilworth Agricultural Show, who says he's optimistic about Brexit negotiations.

"I'm actually quite encouraged by the result of the election because too much power in one place is not a good thing so if there's some more scope for compromise then there's a better potential future.

"If it's down to money, actually agriculture ought to be able to stand on its own two feet... We have quite a big marketplace in this country."

Dr Maria Chen, from the London School of Economics, warns that discussions "will definitely be complicated".

"Two years is going to be a very tight timeframe in which to sort all of the regulations out," she says.

"The £2.6bn that comes in subsidies every year from the [European Union's] Common Agricultural Policy will need to be reinstated in some form at least in the short-term to make sure that farmers are taken care of."

Former Conservative arts minister Ed Vaizey has said he was "disappointed" by the tone struck by Theresa May in the aftermath of the election result, in terms of how she had initially failed to acknowledge the impact on MPs who had lost their seats.

Mr Vaizey told Breakfast News: "I was disappointed by what she said on the steps of Downing Street. But I kind of thought 'she's wanting to get the message across that she wants to carry on as Prime Minister to ensure that there is some stability.' "

The Times

Read Patrick's column, external