Cruel hand of fate The great political PR disasters

Theresa May is not the first political leader to suffer a disastrous moment at a critical time.

‘We’re all right’

Neil Kinnock, the Labour leader, held a rally a week before the 1992 general election – which the Tories would go on to win – and struck a triumphalist tone as he repeatedly shouted “we’re all right”. He later said he regretted it.

Hillary Clinton’s coughing fit

During the US presidential election campaign in 2016 the Democratic nominee suffered a coughing fit during a rally, prompting her to joke: “Every time I think about Trump I get allergic.”

The ‘quiet man’

Iain Duncan Smith took on critics of his leadership style at the 2003 Tory conference, telling activists: “The quiet man is here to stay and he’s turning up the volume.” He lost a noconfidence vote on his leadership weeks later.

Ed Miliband forgets deficit

After delivering his speech to the Labour’s party conference in 2014 he admitted he had forgotten a passage on the need to tackle Britain’s deficit.

Gordon Brown’s ‘bigot’ moment

In 2010 the then prime minister was heard on a live microphone describing a female voter as a “bigoted woman”.

Miliband’s bacon sandwich

A picture of the Labour leader awkwardly eating a bacon sandwich, left, made him an object of ridicule.

Kinnock falls

In 1983 a photo-op went wrong and he fell over on Brighton beach and got soaked by the waves.

Nixon’s TV nightmare

The first ever televised presidential debate in 1960 is credited with helping John F. Kennedy secure the presidency. Richard Nixon struggled with the new format and appeared sweaty while his opponent looked calm and in control.