British politicians have been scrambling for votes this week after Rishi Sunak fired the starting gun on the general election.
In their haste, it seems plenty have fallen victim to the odd gaffe, and none more so than the prime minister himself.
And we don’t mean anything too serious – like policy slip-ups, a problem with candidates or declining popularity – but just plain oddball moments that will make everyone cringe.
1. Sunak’s untimely optics
The prime minister – presumably accidentally – stood in front of a backdrop which made him look like Mickey Mouse.
As if this appearance was not comical enough on its own, the Tories have spent the last few days slamming “Mickey Mouse degrees” which “rip young people off”.
The Conservative Party proposed dropping courses which do not push graduates into well-paying jobs, and giving that funding over to 100,000 extra apprenticeship.
It has not gone down too well generally – and this visual did not exactly help.
2. Ed Davey gets carried away on the slides
The Liberal Democrat leader has been making headlines for his gimmicks this week, particularly after he admitted he purposefully fell off a paddle board.
He continued this strange theme on Thursday when he tried the “Ultimate Slip N Slide” in Shepton Mallet.
According to ITV News, he was told “he is not allowed any more goes” on the attraction.
3. Sunak’s short-lived love of trains
The prime minister gushed about his newfound love of travelling by train early on in his campaign.
He took the sleeper train from London to Cornwall on Wednesday, telling broadcasters: “The train was great, I’ve been taking lots of pictures and videos, sending them back to my kids and saying we’ll be back here as a family at some point.
“I’m excited to be out and about in Cornwall and heading up to Devon later today.”
The Mirror later found he travelled back to London via helicopter, taking a 45-minute return flight at an estimated cost of £2,500, suggesting the PM was back to his beloved habit of taking private flights for relatively short journeys.
4. Angela Rayner’s ‘battle bus’
In a bizarre exchange, Sky News’ Beth Rigby and Angela Rayner discussed the Labour deputy leader’s return to frontline politics after police dropped a probe into the sale of her council house.
The strange part of the interview arrived when the two started to discuss the Rayner’s “battle bus” – a phrase the pair said seven times in less than 30 seconds.
At the end, the Labour deputy said with emphasis: “You’re going to love it. It’s got a fridge.”
5. Sunak faces the wrong way
It seems the PM is becoming rather gaffe-prone in this election campaign.
While visiting Stoke-on-Trent earlier this week, a camera was positioned behind him rather than in front of him – so viewers could see Sunak’s back and the rows of unimpressed members of the public staring back at the PM.
A few days later, his team remembered to position Sunak the right way around – only to get a very disgruntled member of the public captured in the background.