5 things you need to know about Tuesday’s election campaign

Protesters outside BBC Broadcasting House in London, as Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip appear on The One Show. - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Is May running a Trump-style campaign? Five things we learned yesterday

1. Theresa May has denied that she is running a presidential-style campaign amid claims she is ashamed of the ‘nasty’ party. The Conservative brand has played second fiddle to ‘Theresa May’s team’ at events so far. But the Prime Minister insisted: ‘If you look at every piece of literature you will see the Conservative Party.’

2. A win for May’s team could be bad news for foxes. Having seen off Liam Fox in the battle for the Conservative leadership last year, May turned her sights on the vulpine kind by promising a free vote on scrapping the hunting ban. The Prime Minister said she had ‘always been in favour of fox hunting’. The Tories promised a free vote in the 2015 manifesto, but with a slim majority David Cameron never gave MPs the chance to decide. A big win for May could result in enough pro-hunting Tory MPs to repeal the 2004 Hunting Act.

3. The stars are coming out for Labour. After Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh introduced Jeremy Corbyn at his campaign launch, Silk star Maxine Peake appeared in the party’s first election broadcast. Peake said: ‘This General Election is our chance for a fresh start with a Labour government. Labour will build a Britain for the many, not the few.’

4. The camera never lies. Except in Vauxhall, where Lib Dem candidate George Turner was airbrushed out of a photo tweeted by Labour rival Kate Hoey. Only his legs remained after the digital trickery, which Turner labelled ‘Stalinist’. Hoey said she had done ‘nothing illegal’ and her team decided to remove Turner as he was wearing a Lib Dem rosette, adding: ‘We cropped it, apparently we left his legs in – maybe they were good-looking legs.’

5. Corbyn urged voters to ‘Stand By Me’ as he joined a busker on a campaign walkabout in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. The Labour leader sang along with the street entertainer for a rendition of the Ben E King hit.