General Election 2019: From an ice sculpture to fake news rows, the highs and lows from the campaign trail

The general election campaign has been full of twists and turns, controversies and gaffes, as only British politics can pull off.

But as the parties kick into the final gear and the country braces for polling day, we took a look back at the biggest moments from the stormy campaign period.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: Grenfell victims lacked ‘common sense’

Jacob Rees-Mogg got off to a bad start when he sparked uproar by saying Grenfell Tower residents should have ignored London Fire Brigade’s “stay put” advice and instead used “common sense”.

The Leader of the House made the remark during an interview with LBC radio at the end of October. Rapper Stormzy led calls for him to resign, branding him a “piece of s***”.

The furious backlash saw the cabinet minister quickly vanish into the sidelines for the duration of the Conservative campaign.

Tories engulfed in fake news row

The Conservatives were accused of “doctoring” a GMB interview with Labour’s Kier Starmer to make him appear stumped on a Brexit question.

The party’s official Twitter account posted an edited clip of the shadow Brexit secretary, sparking furore. Conservative chairman James Cleverly was hauled before presenter Piers Morgan to defend the edit.

Farage removes Brexit Party candidates

Nigel Farage made an embarrassing climbdown from his pledge to fight the election with 600 Brexit party candidates, when he stood down 317 of them to help the Tories.

He made the bombshell decision after Boris Johnson refused to consider going into coalition with the controversial ardent Brexiteer.

It marked a blow for Jeremy Corbyn who now faced the full thrust of Brexit Party campaigning in Labour seats.

Mr Farage was rocked by a defector and two activists being fired over racist comments later in the campaign.

Tory press office becomes ‘FactcheckUK'

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn went head-to-head for the first time on November 20 in ITV’s leaders debate, but more headlines were made off-screen.

During the debate the CCHQ (Conservative Campaign HQ) press office Twitter account rebranded as “factcheckUK”, purporting to be an independent fact-checking service.

It sparked a furore online, dogging the Tory campaign with accusations of fake news.

Parties reveal manifestos

The final ten days of November saw the parties make their pitches to the nation. Labour vowed a vote “for hope”, the Tories’ key message was to “get Brexit done”, and the Lib Dems pledged to revoke Article 50 immediately.

The manifesto launches were fairly uneventful, bar Mr Corbyn claiming to show leaked documents that, he said, proved the NHS was “up for sale” in transatlantic trade talks.

The Conservatives set up a fake website Labourmanifesto.co.uk attacking Labour’s policies, as their Twitter fake news row rumbled on.

Chief Rabbi blasts Labour anti-Semitism

In an unprecedented blow for Mr Corbyn, the Chief Rabbi - the figure responsible for Britain’s Jewish community - declared the Labour leader unfit for office over his handling of anti-Semitism. The Archbishop of Canterbury stood behind the Rabbi’s damning remarks.

Andrew Neil creates crisis

The next big row centred on Andrew Neil’s prime-time interviews with party leaders. Well, all but one.

A grilling by the BBC presenter saw Mr Corbyn dismantled, as he refused four times to apologise for Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis. In a U-turn, he later said sorry on daytime TV.

Mr Johnson refused to turn up. The BBC also faced sharp criticism for backing down on “banning” the prime minister from only appearing on the Andrew Marr and not Mr Neil. The star later gave a scathing monologue on the matter.

The ice sculpture

Channel 4’s climate change debate created a political storm. Every party leader agreed to appear on the hour-long programme except the prime minister and Nigel Farage, so the broadcaster replaced them with melting ice sculptures.

It did not go down well. Michael Gove and Mr Johnson’s father Stanley arrived at Channel 4’s HQ uninvited and demanded to be allowed to take the prime minister’s place, but were told only party leaders were allowed.

An outraged Mr Gove, the Environment Secretary, posted a video to Twitter of the affair, prompting ridicule. The prime minister threatened to review Channel 4’s public funding if re-elected.

Jo Swinson says she’ll lose

The Lib Dem leader faced ridicule when she admitted her party was unlikely to win a majority on Thursday.

Jo Swinson also conceded in a BBC Radio 4 Today interview that the party’s Brexit policy had changed, with a people’s vote now being the “most likely way” to stop Brexit and no longer the sole strategy.

NHS photo haunts Tories

In a final trip in the hours before the country goes to the polls, a picture has surfaced of a child slumped in a Leeds hospital corridor awaiting treatment.

The Tories rushed Health Secretary Matt Hancock to the scene in a damage-limitation exercise, after the prime minister placed a reporter’s phone in his pocket when presented with the image.

Labour front-bencher lost hope

Key Corbyn ally and shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth was forced to make a grovelling apology after a tape was leaked of him saying Labour was in an “abysmal” situation because voters “can’t stand Corbyn”.

After a phone call with his leader, Mr Ashworth said he “look[ed] like a right plonker”