TIMELINE
APRIL 18
Theresa May stuns Britain by calling a snap general election – after spending months insisting she would not go to the country before May 2020.
APRIL 28
UKIP’s election launch descends into chaos as protesters storm the meeting and call leader Paul Nuttall a bigot.
MAY 2
Labour’s Diane Abbott, pictured, falters on LBC radio, suggesting it will cost £300,000 to recruit 10,000 new police officers, then saying £80million. The real cost is £300million.
MAY 3
PM accuses Brussels officials of trying to interfere in the election.
MAY 7
Lib Dem Tim Farron’s battle bus odyssey starts badly when he trips in the aisle as vehicle leaves Cumbria.
MAY 10
The Mirror exclusively reveals entire contents of Labour’s draft manifesto.
MAY 11
Jeremy Corbyn launches leak inquiry, and his driver runs over a TV cameraman’s foot.
MAY 16
Labour unveils its manifesto, pledging to renationalise rail, the National Grid and water firms.
MAY 18
Tory manifesto vows to axe free school dinners and does not put a cap on social care costs. Meanwhile, neither Corbyn nor May turn up at ITV’s leaders’ debate, leading it to be dubbed the “losers’ debate”.
MAY 21
Corbyn refuses six times to condemn the IRA in a tough Sky News interview.
MAY 22
May performs one of biggest U-turns in the history of election campaigns, declaring there will be a cap on social care costs after all. Hours later, suicide bomber Salman Abedi blows himself up at Manchester Arena, killing 22.
MAY 23
May and Corbyn speak at 4am and agree to suspend campaigning. The terror threat is raised to critical and armed soldiers guard sensitive sites.
MAY 26
May attends a G7 summit in Sicily. In London, Corbyn makes a speech in which he is accused of blaming British foreign policy for terror attacks in the UK.
MAY 29
May and Corbyn are given a tough grilling by a Sky News/Channel 4 audience, followed by interviews with Jeremy Paxman, pictured. But there is no head-to-head debate between Labour leader and PM.
MAY 30
May desperately tries to turn the campaign focus back on Brexit and leadership, effectively relaunching her re-election bid.
MAY 31
Corbyn agrees at last-minute to do TV debate. May sends Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Labour leader gives assured performance.
JUNE 2
Tory chaos on vow to cut migration to tens of thousands. May backs vow to do this by 2022, but Brexit Secretary David Davis says: “We can’t promise within five years.”
JUNE 3
Three terrorists launch a van and knife terror attack on London Bridge, killing eight people. Killers are shot dead by police.
JUNE 4
May and Corbyn trade blows over how to deal with terror.
JUNE 5
PM is on ropes over cuts to police while she was Home Secretary.
JUNE 7
Diane Abbott replaced as Shadow Home Secretary through “illness”.