Surprises, upsets and unexpected events are stable fixtures of general election campaigns. We take a look at some of the most memorable moments:
1. The Prescott Punch. Many a politician has been egged (or custarded) on the trail, but no one will forget the moment John Prescott returned the favour with a punch.
2. In at number 2, we have Chris Patten losing his seat in 1992. As party chairman at the time he was widely credited as a central figure in Major’s election victory. But next stop turned out to be Hong Kong rather than one of the great offices of state.
3. After reports that they weren’t on speaking terms, no-one expected to see Tony Blair buying a 99 flake for Gordon Brown on the 2005 campaign trail.
4. The comedian Russell Brand takes the number 4 spot. Following an interview with Ed Miliband at his house during the 2015 general election campaign, the revolutionary Brand surprised everyone by changing his mind about voting and urging young people in particular to vote Labour. His call came after the deadline to register to vote, and he later expressed regret at getting involved in party politics.
5. Fifth on the list we have Mhairi Black’s defeat of Douglas Alexander at the last election. Everyone knew the SNP would do well in 2015, but watching the university undergraduate take down a political heavyweight who had been an MP since 1997 and who held a majority of over 16,000 was a huge upset and marked the scale of Labour’s demise in Scotland in 2015.
6. TV debates were held for the first time in a British general election campaign in 2010, and Nick Clegg emerged as the surprise front runner after the first debate which had been punctuated with many declarations of “I agree with Nick” from his competitors. His party’s ratings temporarily shot up, surpassing Labour and the Conservatives. Almost equally surprising was the Lib Dems’ net loss of five seats at the election.
7. Seventh on the list is an upset so memorable it’s been adopted as a metaphor for election shocks. When Tory cabinet minister Michael Portillo lost his Enfield Southgate seat in 1997 to the then relatively unknown Stephen Twigg, you knew then that Blair’s winning margin was going to be huge. Many a ‘Portillo moment’ has been seen since, including Ed Balls’ loss at the last election.
8. Ed Miliband’s eight-foot stone monument takes the number … 8 spot. Miliband unveiled the stone in a car park in Hastings to demonstrate his 2015 election pledges were literally “carved in stone” in a move that spawned a million parodies. In a strange turn of events, apparent sightings of the stone have been declared last week in an upmarket west London venue.
9. At number 9 we have a tale of two predictions gone wrong. In 2015, Paddy Ashdown promised he’d eat his hat if the exit polls were correct, failing to believe the Conservatives had won an outright majority and the Lib Dems only a handful of seats. Meanwhile, Alistair Campbell said he’d eat his kilt if the SNP won 58 seats. The two were left with egg on their face the next morning after all the pre-election polls got it wrong, marking one of the biggest political upsets in recent history. David Dimbleby duly reminded the two of this, presenting them both with an edible hat and kilt respectively during their next appearance on Question Time.
10. In at number 10 is perhaps one of the biggest electoral surprises of recent times: Theresa May calling the 2017 snap election after repeatedly ruling one out.