ShortList is supported by you, our amazing readers. When you click through the links on our site and make a purchase we may earn a commission. Learn more

Rupert Murdoch reportedly stormed out of a party when he saw last night's exit poll

All those "Cor-bin" puns, and for what?

Rupert Murdoch reportedly stormed out of a party when he saw last night's exit poll
09 June 2017

Against all odds, the United Kingdom has voted for a hung parliament, and all of a sudden Theresa May’s Conservative government is looking anything but strong and stable

In the unlikely event that you haven’t checked the headlines yet, with 649 of 650 seats declared, Labour have 261 and the Tories 318. Taking into account seats won by the remaining parties, the Prime Minister is a long way off the storming majority that was widely predicted. 

To use a footballing analogy, the endlessly resilient Corbyn – written off more times than Arsene Wenger – may have fallen short of winning the title (at least for now), but he’s finished in the Champions League Places (just go with it), and could yet throw a few surprises. It’s a great day for the Labour leader, young people (who turned out to vote in their droves), grime music, and anyone who still believes in left-wing politics. 

But not everyone is chuffed with the outcome of a General Election that will live long in the memory. Spare a thought, if you will, for zillionaire media emperor Rupert Murdoch, whose newspapers went all out to make sure Theresa May had her mandate to begin negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union. 

So unhappy was ol’ Rupert when news of *that* exit poll (which turned out to be pretty much bang on) began to spread like wildfire last night, that he stormed straight out of The Times Election Party. That’s according to Labour stalwart John Prescott anyway, who wrote on Twitter that he had it on good authority. 

He followed that up by suggesting that Murdoch’s annoyance may have had something to do with Leveson II and Section 40, two bills that would undoubtedly make life even more difficult for his publications. The Tory manifesto pledged to scrap both, but that could all change without their majority.

Obviously, this is all just Prescott speculation, and the News Corp founder could have made his sudden exit for any number of reasons. And if it was election-related, a chinwag with Trump and few laps of the Med in his second-favourite yacht will no doubt get the poor chap’s head back in order.

(Main Image: Rex)