More Tories complained about the BBC during the election than Labour supporters

What separates the political left and right wingers? Economic approach? Support for privatisation vs the welfare state? Opinions on immigration?

Add "their preferred manner of moaning” to the list.

More Tories complained about the BBC’s general election coverage than Labour supporters, new analysis by The Guardian shows.

This was surprising news to many; not least because the BBC’s coverage received wide-ranging and high-profile accusations that it had a pro-Tory bias, including from Andy McDonald, the Shadow Transport Secretary.

But it appears that while left-wing supporters are willing to voice their displeasure on social media, Tories are more likely take to traditional channels (shock!) and pen a Strongly Worded Letter.

The BBC publishes details of programmes that receive more than 100 complaints for a specific reason.

The Guardian examined the data relating to the 23 election-related complaint topics that reached this threshold and found the majority argued the BBC was biased… But in favour of Labour.

Only six of the top complaints suggested a pro-Tory bias and were about incidents like showing the wrong footage of Boris Johnson laying a Remembrance Day wreath and editing out audience laughter of a Question Time special clip.

These complaints related to flagship programmes like the Andrew Marr Show, Radio 4’s Today programme and Newsnight— all of which were accused of pro-Tory bias during the election.

Research from Loughborough University found that other British media halved their criticism of the Conservative party during the election and double their negative coverage of Labour.

The study tracked political reporting in British newspapers over the five weeks of the 2019 election campaign.

The BBC has argued it remains impartial — and cites the fact that it’s criticised from all sides as proof of that.

More: Every nation Britain has declared war on, mapped​

More: These animals have become the global symbol of Australia's devastating fires​