General Election: what we learned on the campaign trail on day one
Every day is a day that votes can be won or lost depending on who says what, so there are always going to be new things to learn.
If a week, in the famous old saying, is a long time in politics, then six weeks might seem like an eternity.
That’s how long it is until the UK gets to vote in its third General Election in four-and-a-half years.
But every day is a day that votes can be won or lost depending on who says what, so there are always going to be new things to learn.
Here is some of what we learned on the first full day of campaigning.
The Tories are way ahead in polling
A new poll has the Conservatives on 41%, Labour on 24%, the Liberal Democrats on 20% and the Brexit Party on 7%.
In the UK’s first-past-the-post electoral system, these are very good numbers for Boris Johnson and his party.
Donald Trump does not like Jeremy Corbyn
Speaking to Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage on LBC Radio, the US president said Mr Corbyn would be “so bad for your country”.
Mr Trump also said Mr Johnson should team up with Mr Farage to form an “unstoppable force” in the election.
But in news that will disappoint Conservatives, he also said the US “can’t make a trade deal with the UK” under “certain aspects of the (Brexit) deal”.
Boris Johnson is being protected in a heavy handed manner
Trainee doctor Julia Simons, 23, said she was pushed aside by security officers when she attempted to challenge the Prime Minister about the NHS.
It’s not about me, says Corbyn
The Labour leader said the General Election campaign is “not about me” as he declined to say if he would resign if his party loses its fourth election in a row.
John Bercow has an elevated opinion of his post-politics worth
The soon-to-be-former Speaker has reportedly demanded £1 million to appear on reality TV show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
The Liberal Democrats just gained another MP
Antoinette Sandbach, one of 21 Conservative MPs removed from the party whip for defying the Government over a no-deal Brexit, has joined several other defectors in becoming a Lib Dem.
A new Bank of England governor will not be appointed until after the election
Chancellor Sajid Javid has abandoned plans to announce the successor to Mark Carney during the election campaign.
