On the day Rishi Sunak called the election, in the rain without an umbrella, I spent the morning at the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Along with Lord (Jim) Knight, we discussed the forthcoming election, which I confidentially predicted would be in November.
By the time our session ended, social media was alive with rumours. I headed over to the Houses of Parliament, where it became increasingly clear the election was upon us. Ironically, the Tories around Portcullis House looked more shocked and surprised than the Labour people.
I did some commentary for GB News that evening from their bunker studios under the QE2 Centre in Westminster, debating Jacob Rees-Mogg who is facing Labour’s excellent Dan Norris in an election no-one was expecting so soon. By the evening, it was clear that the timing of the announcement, and the drenched delivery, would set the tone of a Tory campaign which would be all about the gaffes and missteps.