A rundown of the most chaotic moments so far in the lead up to the General Election

The nation is gearing up to vote on 4th July in the 2024 General Election, and the candidates for each party are out in force, desperately trying to swing voters in their direction. There have been battle buses spotted in towns and cities across the UK, spiriting politicians from one canvassing opportunity to the next. The front runners have taken part in debates aired on television, and we’ve seen the best and worst of British politics – you’d think that these people would have competent media teams, wouldn’t you.

At any rate, we’ve seen a wide variety of noteworthy moments, from milkshakes to Penny Mordaunt’s bizarre debate technique, so here’s a run down of the most chaos moments so far in the lead up to the 2024 General Election.

Nigel Farage having milkshakes, coffee cups, and wet cement thrown at him

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, is a contentious figure for many. He often voices his views and opinions unapologetically, and is a man well known to many for his role in Brexit, his leading position in UKIP, and his open euroscepticism.

This election seems to be no different in terms of the use of projectiles. On his first day campaigning in Clacton in Essex, he was drenched with a banana milkshake by a member of the constituency. The woman responsible, Victoria Thomas Bowen, aged 25, was arrested on suspicion of assault following the incident, according to the Guardian.

A few days later, perched atop his battle bus, driving through Barnsley in South Yorkshire, he was struck with another projectile. This time, a member of the public had launched a coffee cup full of wet cement from a nearby building site at the politician. The Independent has reported that an 28-year-old man has since been arrested by police on suspicion of public order offences following the incident.

Rishi Sunak spoke out about his childhood deprivation after leaving D-Day celebrations early

The Conservative Party leader has been criticised by many following his recent comments in an interview. The prime minister, who was privately educated at Winchester College, made the comment that “there’ll be all sorts of things that I would’ve wanted as a kid that I couldn’t have …  Famously, Sky TV, so that was something that we never had growing up” when asked if he had gone without things as a child.

Now, it is important to remember that Rishi and his wife, Akshata Murty, have an estimated personal wealth of £651 million, and that his mother and father were pharmacy owners and GPs respectively. Sunak initially worked as a hedge fund manager prior to becoming an MP and was the first front-line politician to feature in the Sunday Times’ annual rich list in its 35-year history, the BBC reports.

Hours prior to that interview, the PM attended a British event at Ver sur Mer but left before an international commemoration attended by world leaders including the US President, with the Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron left to deputise for him. The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, stayed at the event until the end. Following a backlash, Rishi apologised saying that “on reflection” it was a mistake not to attend the whole event.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats falling into Lake Windermere five times

Going, going, gone, is what onlookers may have thought as they watched Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Lib Dems, taking a chilly dip in Lake Windermere after falling foul of his paddle board. In the past, Sir Ed has decried the lake as being polluted with sewage, according to the Telegraph. When reporters enquired as to why he felt comfortable paddle boarding and falling into this body of water after his comments surrounding these leaks, Sir Ed said the following: “I kept my mouth closed and we had checked they haven’t had a bad sewage spill (in this part of the lake) in the last 24 hours”.

According to the Telegraph, he went on to comment that people “are pumping sewage into the lakes and rivers has been increasing, and the number of spills has been increasing”, before going on to say that “people are really angry about it. We’ve been campaigning on this for three years now and the level of anger is something I’ve rarely seen on an issue”.

Ed Davey went bungee jumping whilst screaming ‘vote Liberal Democrat’

The leader of the Lib Dems seems to be having a better time than all of his contemporaries on the campaign trail. He has been spotted throughout the campaign embarking on slightly whimsical side-quests as he tries to persuade people to vote for his party.

Lately, Sir Ed has been seen throwing himself off a crane near Eastbourne whilst screaming “VOTE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT”. The Guardian reported that Sir Ed thought his antics had “brought attention to party policies in areas such as social care and sewage in rivers”. He went on to say that “we’ve never seen Liberal Democrat policies talked about as much. Isn’t that weird? When we’ve done it from a lectern in a suit at a press conference, people don’t want to talk about our policies. When I fall off a paddleboard or go down a waterslide, people talk about our policies. I like to think we are running a positive campaign, a bit of fun but mixed with serious messages.” Hours after his bungee jump, the leader was spotted joining in with a Zumba class, in a neon orange shirt. Its certainly some imaginative and eye-catching campaigning.

The Lib Dem leader met with his biggest supporters – some alpacas

Earlier this week Ed Davey visited a farm in Shropshire, where he met some alpacas. Speaking to one of the animals, he said “some lovely grass here, mate,” as he led one alpaca into a paddock, a local news source reported. “Pele (another alpaca) just told me he’s voting Lib Dem,” Ed joked to the media attending, who were watching on with bated breath after the handlers informed them that the animals could spit their stomach contents up to 10 feet away. Sir Ed said: “I don’t think politicians should take themselves too seriously, a little bit of self deprecation doesn’t go amiss.”

Rishi Sunak went canvassing in Sambas

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Earlier this year, Rishi Sunak came under fire from students and young people alike for associating himself with Adidas Sambas. You’d think he’d learn, wouldn’t you? Apparently not. The PM appeared recently on the campaign trail rocking the Sambas once again, posting the photo to his X account with the caption” “Sun’s out. Sambas on. Secure future”. Is it too much to ask for the leader of our government to wear some age appropriate shoes?

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Featured images via Dinendra Haria/LNP/Shutterstock and TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.