Rightwing tabloids that backed Theresa May’s decision to call a snap election, accused her of running a shocking campaign and taking a gamble that backfired as they reacted to a result they had not anticipated.

The Sun and the Daily Mail, which had heavily criticised Jeremy Corbyn and supported May in the days before the election, turned on the prime minister overnight as it became clear that the Conservatives would not win a majority.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Post-election newspapers. Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images

The George Osborne-edited London Evening Standard cycled through a series of critical headlines, culminating with “Queen of Denial” in its final edition, published after a subdued May had promised to form a government but had not mentioned the election result.

The newspaper said her authority as prime minister had been “shredded”. Earlier editions were headlined “May hung out to dry,” then “May’s Irish Bailout”, complete with a picture of Orange Order marchers as a reference to her Democratic Unionist party supporters, and “May’s right royal mess”. The result was repeatedly described as a “poll disaster”.

May’s setback will raise questions about the influence of Fleet Street on the electorate, given the majority of national newspapers strongly backed her and the Conservatives. The Guardian reported last week that some of the most shared articles on social media about the general election were from partisan blogs such as Another Angry Voice, The Canary and Evolve Politics, which backed Labour.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Daily Mail’s front page after the election. Photograph: Daily Mail

The Sun had urged its readers not to “chuck Britain in the Cor-bin” in its last edition before the election, provoking a backlash on social media, but on Friday its front-page headline was “Theresa Dismay”.

The Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. John Prescott, the former deputy leader of Labour, tweeted on Thursday night that he had heard from a “very good source” that Murdoch had “stormed out” of the Times election party after seeing the exit poll on Thursday night, which predicted that the Conservatives would fail to win a majority.

John Prescott (@johnprescott) Heard from very good source who was there that Rupert Murdoch stormed out of The Times Election Party after seeing the Exit Poll 😂 #Vote2017

Murdoch attended the party at News UK’s offices in London and did leave after the exit poll before returning later, sources said. However, they disputed the suggestion that he had “stormed out”. A collection of editorial staff left the party after the exit poll was published at 10pm in order to work on the newspaper and website, with Murdoch understood to have left at about 11pm. News UK declined to comment.

Daily Mail devotes 13 pages to attack on Labour 'apologists for terror' Read more

The Daily Mail, which has consistently backed May since she became Conservative leader last year, said on its front page on Friday: “Theresa on ropes as her big gamble backfires”. Mail Online, the Daily Mail’s website, was even more forceful as it led with the headline: “She’s blown it”.

A pre-election edition of the Daily Mail on Wednesday devoted 13 pages to attacking Labour, Corbyn, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell under the headline: “Apologists for terror.” The tabloid urged readers to support the Conservatives in an editorial on its first and second pages but concentrated its fire on Labour’s leadership, compiling hostile anecdotes dating back to the 1970s.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Sun’s front page. Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph said “Britain votes for chaos” while the Times described the vote as a “nightmare” for May and said she had been “humiliated”.

The Daily Mirror, which supported Labour, published a front page with the headline of “Cor Blimey!” The Guardian, which also backed Labour in a pre-election editorial, wrote: “Corbyn stuns the Tories.”

Osborne, who stood down as an MP before the election, was a guest on ITV’s election programme alongside Ed Balls, the former shadow chancellor. Osborne, who the Mail accused of “beaming” as the results came in, said the result was “catastrophic” for the Conservatives. Asked on Radio 4 if May would survive as party leader, he said: “I personally don’t see how she can survive in the long term.”

Commenting on the influence of the press on the election, Douglas

McCabe, a media analyst at Enders, said: “On the one hand, the under-25 vote grew substantially in 2017 ensuring a greater impact from social media in relation to print.



“On the other hand, the election was also the reassertion of the two-party system – after years of decline of their combined share of the vote – and most newspapers aligned with one of them, most of them backing the party that won substantially the most seats.”