When the heavens opened over Rishi Sunak outside Downing Street as he called a General Election yesterday afternoon, he could have been forgiven for wanting to turn back time.
With the water pouring down and the Prime Minister’s suit becoming more and more soaked, it was far from the projection of power and confidence that Mr Sunak would have wanted to portray.
In doing so he became the latest unwilling addition to the list of politicians who have suffered cringeworthy political photo-ops that almost – and sometimes did – overshadow the point they were trying to get across.
From Theresa May‘s robotic dancing and Neil Kinnock falling in the sea, to Ed Miliband travails trying eat a bacon sandwich and Tony Blair struggling with a tight pair of jeans, many of Britain’s political heavyweights have fallen flat on their face.
MailOnline has gone through the last 50 years of British politics, to bring you the some of the most embarrassing mishaps that the public had the misfortune of seeing.
Rishi Sunak was soaked by rain during his speech announcing a General Election on Wednesday
Ed Miliband was lampooned for making weird facial expressions while eating a bacon sandwich in 2014
Jeremy Corbyn accidentally hit Emily Thornberry in the breast in a failed high-five in 2017
Rishi Sunak gets soaked
After months of speculation about when the Prime Minister would call a General Election, Rishi Sunak took the leap and announced it yesterday.
Standing outside Downing Street at the lectern, he told the press, and the nation, that when they went to the polls on July 4 they would face a choice between him and Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer.
In his speech Mr Sunak said he was ‘proud’ of his record since becoming leader of the Conservatives in 2022 and claimed that sticking to his plan would be best for the country.
However, he had his parade quite literally rained on by the weather, with the heavens opening and soaking the Prime Minister who was wearing just a suit and had no umbrella to shelter under.
As the minutes passed Mr Sunak became sodden, projecting an image that was far from his intended one of strength and confidence.
Combined with protesters blasting out the D-Ream song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ – which was famously the song chosen by Tony Blair for his 1998 Labour landslide – in the background, it was far from the start to the election campaign that Mr Sunak wanted.
Theresa May does the robot
Theresa May became the butt of jokes after she danced to ABBA’s song Dancing Queen during the Conservative Party conference in 2018
Mrs May’s moves saw her dancing dubbed the ‘Maybot’ – a reference to the famous robot dance
When Theresa May walked on stage at the Tory party conference in October 2018, few were prepared for what was to come.
The Prime Minister entered the conference hall in Birmingham to the sound of ABBA’s iconic song Dancing Queen – and life imitated art.
The Conservative leader did a jig to the tune – with arms stretched out wide and a big grin on her face, Mrs May’s moves left the audience in the auditorium howling with laughter.
People on social media were quick to poke fun at the Prime Minister’s jig, which was dubbed the ‘Maybot’ – a reference to the famous robot dance – while Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May even did their own version.
It wasn’t the first time MRs May had felt the groove get the better of her – she had been filmed dancing on several occasions in the months before and was repeatedly mocked for her ‘cringeworthy’ style.
However, she didn’t let it get to her, telling journalists after she was lampooned for her dancing during a visit to a school in Kenya: ‘I took the mickey-taking in good heart, which is why I tweeted that TV Strictly competitors should get in touch if they needed any tips.’
Ed Miliband struggles with his bacon sandwich
Ed Miliband’s woes with a bacon sandwich underlined his election troubles in 2014
Few entries on this list have had quite the impact on a politician’s future than Ed Miliband’s travails with a bacon sandwich.
The Labour leader was pictured appearing to struggle with the simple culinary creation just days before the local and European elections in May 2014.
Mr Miliband, who in the days previously had been left looking clueless after two disastrous interviews, then compounded his problems during his visit to a cafe in Covent Garden.
He ordered a bacon sandwich, but after it was served to him by the cafe’s Tory-leaning owner, he was pictured making a series of contorted faces as he tried to bite down on it.
It was another setback in his bid to appear in touch with ordinary people – it emerged days earlier that he regularly spent 2.25 on loafs of artisan bread from a deli near his North London home.
While the General Election itself turned out to be a year away, the image proved hard to shake for Mr Miliband, with the picture itself appearing on some front pages the day before polling day in 2015.
And while it’s difficult to tell how much of a drag it had on his election hopes, it certainly didn’t help the Labour leader as the Conservatives swept to a majority in Parliament after five years of coalition government.
Neil Kinnock falls into the sea
Neil Kinnock’s plunge into the sea while walking along Brighton seafront in October 1983 overshadowed his election as Labour Party leader
Baron Kinnock was helped up by his wife Glenys after an incoming wave swept him off his feet
The politician laughed off the incident, although his pleas for the press to show their ‘better nature’ by not published the photos went unheeded
There’s something to be said for embracing your mishaps with a smile, and that’s exactly what Neil Kinnock did after famously fell into the sea.
The Labour Party leadership candidate had been walking along Brighton’s shingle beach seafront on the day of the election in October 1983.
In a bid to impress the watching media, the future Baron Kinnock joked that he would walk along the pebble beach and give them a ‘real scoop’ by walking on water.
It was a decision he would come to rue – minutes later as he and his wife Glenys pranced down the seafront a wave came crashing in and knocked him off his feet.
Baron Kinnock appeared to take it in his stride – not literally though – as he got back up with a smile and posed for the cameras, before telling the press he would ‘appeal to your better nature’ to use some more flattering footage.
It wasn’t to be, with the images and video shown far and wide the next day, although the incident appeared to have no impact on his leadership prospects given he won more than 70 per cent of the vote in the Labour election contest the same day.
However, he would never live it down and the incident itself came to overshadow his election victory.
Jeremy Corbyn’s X-rated high-five
Jeremy Corbyn accidentally hit Emily Thornberry in the breast during a failed high-five in May 2017
When Jeremy Corbyn arrived at the count for Islington North on the night of the 2017 General Election, he had high hopes.
A shock exit poll had suggested Labour could get 266 seats – they ended up with 262 – and the leader of the opposition appeared in good spirits.
It marked a temporary change in fortune for Mr Corbyn, who had been heavily criticised both within and outside the party for his hard-left political ideals.
Arriving at the count, Mr Corbyn said: ‘Welcome to the Labour borough of Islington!’
However, he would have a moment to forget among the happiness in north London when he accidentally hit Emily Thornberry in the breast.
Footage showed the pair joking around before he goes to high-five her – but instead slaps her breast.
But luckily she seemed to not notice the embarrassing moment and continued smiling.
It sparked laughter on social media, with some people calling the incident ‘hilarious’ and ‘the best thing to come out of this election’.
Gordon Brown calls a voter a ‘bigoted woman’
Gordon Brown was embroiled in a row after he called pensioner Gillian Duffy (pictured) a ‘bigoted woman’ after meeting her on the 2010 election campaign trail
During the 2010 General Election campaign Gordon Brown had a difficult task on his hands – after a recession that had hit people’s wallets and 13 years of Labour government, the country wanted change.
The former chancellor then delivered a nearly-knockout blow to his own chances when he came across Gillian Duffy in Rochdale just days before the final televised debate.
Ms Duffy, a Brexit-supporting pensioner who spent her career working with handicapped children, had been a lifelong Labour supporter when she met the Prime Minister.
When he was on the campaign trail in her constituency, Ms Duffy grilled him on public debt, taxes, benefits and immigration, but as the pair went their separate ways she remarked he seemed ‘very nice’.
However, disaster struck when Mr Brown – who had forgotten he was still wearing a Sky News microphone – told aides in a car the meeting had been a ‘disaster’ and called Ms Duffy a ‘bigoted woman’.
The remarks were aired by Sky News and sparked a furore that almost completely derailed the Labour leader’s re-election hopes, while Ms Duffy said she was ‘disgusted’ about his comments.
Mr Brown was forced into an apology, but the comments underlined the gap between himself and public opinion on topics such as immigration, and this was shown when Labour finished a distant second place in the subsequent election.
John Prescott punches a voter
John Prescott’s bust-up with a voter after he was egged during the campaign trail has been etched into the public memory
The deputy Labour leader threw a punch at a man who egged him while he was in Rhyl, north Wales in 2001
John Prescott, the deputy Labour leader known for his down to earth and confrontational manner, has lamented that he will forever be remembered by one incident rather than his 40 years as an MP.
The politician famously punched a protester who threw an egg at him during the 2001 election campaign, something that has lived on in the public memory.
After being hit in the neck, the former amateur boxer responded with a straight left jab to the jaw.
Rather than marking the end of his political career, the incident turned Lord Prescott into an unlikely cult hero, with some praising his response and willingness to defend himself.
It’s an event which Lord Prescott himself says has overshadowed his career, telling the Radio Times in 2017: ‘I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved. But people won’t remember me for my 40 years in Parliament.
‘Instead, I’ll be remembered for 40 seconds of my life. The time I thumped that bloke in the street. That incident, while I was out campaigning in Rhyl during the 2001 general election, will be my obituary.
‘They’ve even put a plaque on the wall to mark the spot of this great historic punch. That’s life, I suppose.’
Tony Blair struggles with his tight jeans
Tony Blair was seen struggling in a pair of extremely tight trousers during a walk with US president George W Bush in 2001
When Tony Blair travelled to Camp David in the United States in February 2001 he was hoping to make a good impression on newly-elected president George W Bush.
The pair were hoping to discuss issues such as missile defence, NATO and the situation in Iraq in the idyllic presidential retreat.
However, the Prime Minister could have been forgiven for having other things on his mind – namely his trousers.
Mr Blair was seen on camera appearing to wince – and mince – while wearing a pair of very tight jeans on a walk with Mr Bush.
The incredibly snug trousers left little to the imagination, and matters weren’t helped by the Prime Minister’s stiff and pocketed hands which suggested he was not enjoying the outing.
But the inappropriate jeans appeared to do little to stop his efforts, as Mr Blair and Mr Bush became firm allies.
So firm was their relationship, that they had each others backs when they defied world opinion and invaded Iraq in 2003, a foreign policy disaster that scarred both their reputations.
Sajid Javid’s bizarre pose
Sajid Javid’s ‘power pose’ outside the Home Office in April 2018 sparked ribbing from people online
When Sajid Javid was made Home Secretary in April 2018 it was the pinnacle of his career in politics.
However, his promotion was somewhat overshadowed by the bizarre pose he chose to make while standing for photos in Whitehall.
Spreading his legs wide and adopting a ‘cowboy stance’, Mr Javid beamed before greeting his new team at the Home Office.
He was not the first politician to use the position, with the likes of David Cameron, George Osborne and Theresa May all striking the pose.
It came after the so-called power pose first burst onto the stage in 2010 when a scientific paper said those adopting the striking stance were projecting power.
Columnist David Brooks has summed up the thinking behind the pose, writing: ‘If you act powerfully, you will begin to think powerfully.’
But that didn’t stop Twitter users gently poked fun at the minister’s striking stance – comparing him to the Prince Regent in Blackadder, a Subbuteo character and rock and roll guitarists.