From tuition fees to “fopdoodles”: what we have learnt so far in this election

With four weeks to go until polling day, we take a quick look at what we have seen so far on the campaign trail.

Labour’s dominance of the policy agenda

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour have gone into this short election campaign on the front foot in terms of pitching reforms to the economy and the NHS, coming as they did straight after recess, which the party used for a policy blitz.

The election campaign has brought commitments to boost school funding, Jonathan Ashworth’s pledge to ban junk food adverts before the watershed, and an end to Tory A&E closures, while the manifesto leak brought a raft of announcements including key pledges on nationalisation of the railways and Royal Mail.

And they’re not done yet…

The abolition of university tuition fees formed part of Corbyn’s leadership campaign first time around. Yesterday, when asked if Labour would commit to free university places, Angela Rayner simply that we should “watch this space…” before a video emerged of John McDonnell seeming to commit the party to the policy. Now it has been confirmed the iconic pledge is in the draft manifesto – and once the document is finalised then we can expect one or two more eye-catching policies before polling day.

Corbyn can compromise

The Labour leader’s opposition to nuclear weapons is well known, and some critics have described him as a pacifist – but the leaked manifesto contains a commitment to renew Trident, echoing party policy as agreed at conference. There is, however, a caveat that sets out Corbyn’s stance in coded terms: “any prime minister should be extremely cautious about ordering the use of weapons of mass destruction which would result in the indiscriminate killing of millions of innocent civilians”. His view is clear, even if the wording is moderated.

All strings detached

With the Labour leader’s approval ratings at historic lows, we’ve seen a growth of candidates cutting all references to Corbyn in their campaign literature. Voters are being asked to choose the person on the constituency ballot paper, rather than giving a verdict on the leader of the opposition, so there is a concerted move from candidates to focus on the local, in a hope to win their seats.

Fopdoodles and mugwumps

Funny words are great aren’t they? Boris Johnson has long tried to model himself as the bumbling, yet loveable, character of British politics – and his odd attack on Corbyn, describing him as a “mutton-headed mugwump” has been, somehow, one of the standout moments of the electoral campaign.

Tom Watson decided to play him at his own game, however, and at Usdaw’s conference in Blackpool he described the Brexiteer foreign secretary as a “cack-handed, cheese-headed fopdoodle”.