Memorable moments from general election campaigns gone by
Since Rishi Sunak called the election, Sky News’ Politics Hub has been looking back over memorable moments from campaigns gone by.
From David Cameron‘s football own goal, to an upstart Nick Clegg emerging as the unlikely victor from the UK’s first televised leaders debate, there were plenty to choose from.
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We’ve collated them all here for you to reminisce on – and a fair warning, given the fine weather we’ve had this week, one might leave you craving some ice creamā¦
Cameron’s own goal
Nothing says “man of the people” like a good football reference.
But – in an embarrassing slip during the 2015 campaign – David Cameron did little to convince us he was a true fan.
In a speech in which he sought to celebrate Britain’s diversity, he said this was “a country where people of all faiths, all colours, creeds, and backgrounds can live together” – and one where “you can support Man Utd, the Windies, and Team GB all at the same time”.
“Of course, I’d rather you support West Ham,” he quipped.
Alas, he’s an Aston Villa fan.
‘Hell yes, I’m tough enough’
Labour had been tipped to return to power at the 2015 election, but some bruising TV appearances for Ed Miliband didn’t help the party’s chances by the end.
One saw him grilled on Sky News by Jeremy Paxman about whether he was “tough enough” to be prime minister.
Leaning forward, Mr Miliband shared an anecdote about the UK government’s desire to intervene in Syria that year, in line with the US under then president Barack Obama.
He told Paxman how he was “called into a room” to speak to David Cameron and his deputy, Nick Clegg, fresh off the phone with Mr Obama, and ultimately decided to vote against taking action.
“Standing up to the leader of the free world shows a certain toughness,” said Mr Miliband.
Defending his record on foreign policy, he concluded his point with the immortal words: “Am I tough enuss… tough enough? Hell yes, I’m tough enough.”
Johnson hides in a fridge
Boris Johnson poses for a photo during the 2019 election campaign. Pic: AP
Indiana Jones infamously hid in a fridge to survive a nuclear explosion, but who knew they were equally effective at protecting yourself from Piers Morgan.
During the election campaign of December 2019, Boris Johnson retreated into an industrial fridge at a milk firm in Yorkshire after being invited to speak on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Told by a producer from the show that he was live on telly, Mr Johnson said he’d be “with you in a second” before enacting his daring escape.
“He’s gone into the fridge,” Morgan muttered in apparent disbelief, down the line from the ITV studio, as the then prime minister surrounded himself with the comfort of milk bottles.
Mr Johnson did eventually emerge and went on to win the election.
Flakes between friends
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, clearly the best of pals. Pic: PA
New Labour’s time in power often saw stories about a fractious relationship between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
But the pair put on the truest form of friendship on the 2005 campaign trail: enjoying delectable 99 Flakes together.
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The photo op was a rebuttal to reports of a fallout, and nothing brings people together like good ice cream.
And they probably really did cost 99p back then.
‘We’re alright!’
Neil Kinnock delivers an infamous Labour rally in Sheffield. Pic: PA
It’s 1992 – and Labour’s Neil Kinnock is facing John Major.
A week out from the vote, and the opposition thinks it is on track to finally re-enter Downing Street after more than a decade out of power.
Thousands of the party faithful gathered at Sheffield Arena for a huge rally.
Amid rampant cheering and applause, Mr Kinnock bellowed what was reported to be the phrase “we’re alright!”
This was taken to be him signalling Labour would be winning – a sign of complacency and overconfidence.
His party went on to lose to Mr Major’s Tories, and Mr Kinnock resigned as party leader.
He has since argued he was actually saying “well alright” in an attempt to get the crowd to listen to him.
‘Nothing has changed’
Theresa May faced the media after performing a U-turn on her social care reforms. Pic: PA
Theresa May didn’t have a great time during the 2017 campaign.
One moment in particular went down in infamy, as she repeatedly told journalists “nothing has changed” despite a screeching U-turn on controversial plans to get the elderly to pay for their social care.
It was perhaps the nadir of a campaign that had begun with her tipped to inflict a crushing defeat upon Labour, but instead saw her lose her majority.
‘I agree with Nick’
David Cameron and Nick Clegg debate ahead of the 2010 election. Pic: Reuters
The big winner from the UK’s first ever TV prime ministerial debate in 2010 wasn’t primary contenders David Cameron and Gordon Brown, but Nick Clegg.
As the Tory and Labour leaders looked to take chunks out of one another, they saved a more conciliatory side for the insurgent Lib Dem.
He could do no wrong that night, with Messrs Cameron and Brown both finding it completely irresistible not to simply “agree with Nick”.
Cleggmania took him all the way into Number 10 as part of the coalition.
The Ed Stone
Ed Miliband unveils his manifesto pledges in unusual fashion. Pic: PA
Never mind his bacon sandwich eating technique, it was unveiling Labour’s 2015 election pledges inscribed on an enormous slab of limestone that really got voters wondering what Ed Miliband was up to that year.
The then party leader thought the stunt, known as the Ed Stone, would persuade the public he was serious about delivering his promises.
They included “a strong economic foundation” and “controls on immigration” (these sound familiar, no?).
Worse still, Labour even committed to putting it up in the Downing Street garden should they win power.
But it was immediately ridiculed upon its unveiling in Hastings, and the party ended up performing so disappointingly at the election that the now shadow energy secretary resigned as leader.
Bigotgate
Gordon Brown and Gillian Duffy, the voter he called a ‘bigoted woman’. Pic: PA
Nigel Farage has claimed that the furore over Rishi Sunak leaving D-Day commemorations was the prime minister’s “Gillian Duffy moment”.
So fittingly, we looked back at the original.
“Bigotgate” was born after the then prime minister Gordon Brown described one voter – Gillian Duffy – airing concerns about immigration in Rochdale as a “bigoted woman”.
Mr Brown muttered it after an exchange on camera, not realising he was being picked up by a microphone, and the comment was subsequently broadcast.
The Prescott punch
John Prescott (right) and Gordon Brown at Labour’s 2001 manifesto launch in Birmingham. Pic: Reuters
How would you react if someone threw an egg in your face?
In the case of John Prescott, the answer was to punch them.
The former deputy prime minister threw a fist at the voter who targeted him ahead of a campaign rally in Wales.
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The incident came on the day Labour launched its 2001 manifesto, and went down in such infamy it has its own Wikipedia page.
Mr Prescott, then Tony Blair’s deputy, insisted the hefty jab was an act of self-defence – but him choosing violence divided the party leadership, with Gordon Brown more sympathetic than the prime minister was.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf says his party’s mission is to “remoralise” young people.
Speaking off the back of his party’s massive gains in the local elections, Mr Yusuf said young people were being taught to “hate their country” and that Reform’s mission was to change their morals.
“There has been an industrial-scale demoralisation, particularly of young people in this country, who are basically being taught quite deliberately that they should hate their country; they should be deeply ashamed of their country’s history; that the United Kingdom had a brutal empire,” he told The Times.
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“Look, of course, you know, the British Empire was not perfect, but I actually think overall the British Empire did much more good for the world than it did bad.”
He said the party’s mission was to “remoralise” the youth and that within a couple of months of gaining power, Reform would erect statues of great British figures and end “all this woke nonsense”.
He continued: “How many young people know who Isambard Kingdom Brunel is? Look at the character assassination that has occurred on the legacy of Sir Winston Churchill.
“The fact that they have to cover up his statue because they don’t want to provoke protesters. I mean that’s the sort of utterly indefensible so-called leadership that we’ve had and young people feel that in their bones.”
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Inside Reform’s election success
Read more:
Tory leader apologises to councillors as Reform makes big gains
‘I get it’: Starmer responds after losing Runcorn by-election to Reform UK
He said he believes Reform leader Nigel Farage’s message is “resonating” with young people and added: “I think that a lot of young people we speak to feel very smothered by a finger-wagging sort of teaching class.
“They feel very restricted, they feel a huge lack of opportunity ā¦ You’re going to hear from us over the next couple of years more and more of a policy platform for young people, for Gen Z and for millennials.”
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Voters turn to Reform UK
Mr Farage has been more focused on what his party’s trajectory is doing to the Conservatives, saying in his column for The Telegraph that Kemi Badenoch’s party had been “hollowed out” and is experiencing a “strange death” due to the rising popularity of Reform.
He said the UK had reached a “new political age”, reiterating earlier claims that two-party politics “is finished”.
Reform chairman Zia Yusuf will be appearing on Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips from 8.30am this morning.
OKX founder and CEO Star Xu has publicly defended the crypto exchange after Tron founder Justin Sun accused it of failing to act on a law enforcement request to freeze stolen funds following a recent hack of Tronās official X account.
āOKX also has consumers protection policy according to law, we canāt freeze a customerās funds according to your personal X post or an oral communication. I think you should understand it as the CEO of HTX,ā Xu said in an X post.
OKX says there is no communication in the spam box, either
Xu said that the crypto exchange had not received any related correspondence through OKXās official channels. āOur LE cooperation team just checked the email, including the spam box; we havenāt received any request related with this case,ā Xu said.
In what is now an unavailable X post, but was screenshotted by Xu, Sun had earlier claimed that OKX has not responded to a āfreeze noticeā sent to its official email address from a ārelevant law enforcement agency.ā Sun said that he had no other way to contact OKXās compliance department.
āThese stolen funds do not belong to me; Iām acting to protect the community,ā Sun said. On May 3, Tron DAO told its 1.7 million X followers that its account had been compromised. Tron explained that during the breach, an unauthorized party posted a malicious contract address, sent direct messages, and followed unfamiliar accounts.
āIf you received a DM from our account on May 2, please delete it and consider it the work of the attacker.ā
In response to Sunās claims of inaction, Xu publicly called on him to provide a screenshot showing when and where the law enforcement request was made.
The Tron incident is one of several recent security breaches involving high-profile crypto accounts on X.
Related: Over 14,500 Tron addresses at risk of silent hijacking
Kaito AI, an artificial intelligence-powered platform that aggregates crypto data to provide market analysis for users, and its founder, Yu Hu, were the victims of an X social media hack on March 15. The hackers opened up a short position on KAITO tokens before posting that the Kaito wallets were compromised and advised users that their funds were not safe.
The Pump.fun X account was compromised on Feb. 26 to promote a fake governance token called āPUMPā and other fraudulent coins.
Meanwhile, the X account of UK member of Parliament and Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, was hacked to promote a scam crypto token.
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