It is six weeks since a rain-soaked Rishi Sunak stood outside Downing Street and announced an early UK general election, pitching it as a choice between a Conservative party with a plan versus a Labour Party without one.
However, it was not the start to a campaign that any prime minister would have wanted.
As he struggled to be heard against the sound of the New Labour anthem – “Things can only get better” – being blasted from outside the gates, Mr Sunak must have known that this was far from the perfect start.
Unfortunately for him, things only got worse.
PR blunders
In the chaos of any campaign, it can be hard for politicians to protect themselves against an embarrassing faux pas.
The narrative, however, had already taken hold that Mr Sunak was likely fighting a losing battle and so, a picture of him standing in a plane with an exit sign above his head seemed to sum up the feeling amongst many that this was a leader on his way out.
Add to this a decision to visit the Titanic exhibition in Belfast, where a journalist asked him if he too was captaining a sinking ship, Mr Sunak seemed destined for disaster.
Both PR slip-ups captured headlines across the UK, prompting some to ask if there was some deliberate attempt to sabotage the campaign.
Guess who’s back
He had pledged to stay out of this election campaign, but just a few days into it in the back of a Range Rover with Eminem’s “Without Me” playing in the background, Nigel Farage gleefully sang the words “guess who’s back, back again”, with a mischievous grin on his face.
Not only was Mr Farage running as an MP in the constituency of Clacton, but he was also taking over from Richard Tice as the new Reform UK leader.
The news was met with dismay within Tory ranks.
Reform already posed a risk to the Conservatives, but with Mr Farage at the helm it could prove to be even more of a threat.
“Ultimately a vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate makes it more likely that Keir Starmer is in number ten,” was the rebuttal that Mr Sunak would deliver consistently.
Shortly before a television debate in mid-June, between senior figures and leaders from the seven main parties, polling data from YouGov suggested that Reform had overtaken the Conservatives in popularity.
The survey indicated that Reform UK was at 19% in the polls while the Conservative Party was at 18%.
However, subsequent polling placed the Conservatives back in second place.
The Reform Party will likely win only a handful of seats, but it could take many votes from the Conservatives, increasing the chance of heavy losses for Mr Sunak’s party.
D-Day disaster
The anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy saw World War II veterans and international leaders gather in France.
It was a solemn event that brought about a rare moment of unity in the campaign, with the Labour leader Keir Starmer also in attendance.
However, a decision by Mr Sunak to leave early to film a pre-recorded television interview with ITV provoked fury amongst many and damaging headlines in the days afterwards.
It prompted the prime minister to issue an apology on social media the next day, acknowledging that it was a mistake to leave.
“After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise,” he wrote.
A childhood without Sky TV
When that ITV interview eventually aired several days after the D-Day anniversary event, it did not provide any help to the prime minister’s already faltering campaign.
Questions about whether Mr Sunak was out of touch prompted an awkward response.
Mr Sunak and his wife are estimated to have a net wealth of over £650 million (€767 million).
Mr Sunak told the interviewer that he had to go without many things when he was younger. When pushed on what exactly that was, he mentioned Sky TV.
Queue internet memes aplenty, with many people less than impressed with Mr Sunak’s attempt to identify with hard pressed Britons.
It was not a fatal blow to his campaign, but it certainly did not help.
Election betting scandal
It has arguably been the most significant and bruising controversy of this election.
The Guardian newspaper, three weeks into the campaign, broke the story that Mr Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide had placed a £100 bet on the date of the general election, just a few days before it was called.
Craig Williams apologised for placing the “flutter”, describing it as an error of judgement.
The trouble for Mr Sunak was that this was just the start of the controversy.
Several conservative figures are now being investigated.
A number of policer officers, including one close protection officer to the prime minister, are also being investigated.
Mr Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” to hear of the allegations
Labour also suspended one of its candidates, Kevin Craig, after he placed a bet, not on the date of the election, but rather on himself to lose in the election.
