People are sharing this video of a woman pulling funny faces behind Rishi Sunak

The start of the general election campaign for Rishi Sunak has not been all smooth sailing. From the moment the prime minister announced the surprise snap election just over a week ago, he was hit with gaffes.

Right from the off, the sight of a soaking wet Sunak standing outside Downing Street probably didn’t make life easy for Tory campaign chiefs.

The next seven days saw the Conservatives accused of deliberately planted a Tory councillor to ask the prime minister a question during a speech; ridiculed after Sunak asked brewery workers in Wales if they were looking forward to Euro 2024 (which the Welsh national team failed to qualify for); and mocked by rival campaigns over footage of him trying to dribble a football.

And on Wednesday it was the turn of a woman standing behind Sunak to go viral over some unfortunate facial expressions as Sunak spoke.

While acknowledging that “life has been difficult”, Sunak went on to list a series of Conservative "successes" during a visit to Supacat, a manufacturing facility responsible for making armoured vehicles for the Ministry of Defence in Dunkeswell, Devon.

He spoke about delivering the furlough scheme during the COVID pandemic and helping people pay for their energy bills as prices rocketed.

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However, all eyes were on a woman standing just behind him, with many people on social media saying a series of facial expressions being in response to Sunak's comments.

People posting on X demanded the woman be given a damehood after the election, while one person said “she eyerolls for the nation”.

It wasn’t just the woman who people were focusing on.

Additional footage posted online showed a concerned looking man looking over at the woman before walking into the camera shot, placing himself in a position that blocked her from view.

The incident was also noticed by the Larry the Cat Twitter (X) account, who shared it to their 800,000 followers, saying: "A warning for anyone standing in the background while Sunak pleads for people to vote for him - if you don't look enthusiastic about what he's saying someone on his team will get a text telling them to block you from view..."

Some reports have speculated the man is a special adviser to the prime minster. Yahoo News UK has contacted the Conservative Party to ask if the man in question is employed by them.