By William James and Kylie MacLellan
LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Britain's election campaign has
delivered funny, strange and surreal moments, from Prime
Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit-branded boxing to a stranded
train full of journalists on their way to a speech about rail
investment.
Here are some the highlights from six weeks of cross-country
campaigning:
DELIVERING THE MESSAGE (Dec. 11)
What do a donut, a digger, boxing gloves and a scarf have in
common? All have been printed, painted, woven or iced with the
Conservative election slogan "Get Brexit Done".
It is not unusual for political parties to come up with one
or two central campaign messages and plaster them across
lecterns, placards and buses.
But while Labour's "Time for real change" and "For the many,
not the few" slogans have appeared in the usual places,
Johnson's Conservatives have gone to greater lengths to try and
ensure their message gets through.
On a whistle-stop final day of campaigning Johnson added a
few more to the list: a branded apron worn while making a pie
and a milk crate used to make a delivery to a voter's house.
GOVERNMENT BORROWING UP (Dec. 3)
Johnson's efforts to stimulate the economy in the English
city of Salisbury ran out of cash.
Touring local businesses at a Christmas market, Johnson
visited a butcher and helped out at one stall, serving up sweets
in front of the cameras.
But the prime minister, whose Conservatives have cast
themselves as the party of fiscal discipline, came unstuck when
he tried to pay for chocolate brownies.
Fumbling through his wallet, Johnson had to ask his team for
a loan. "I'm out of cash" he said. "I lashed out on some
sausages earlier on and it cleaned me out!"
CORBYN'S LITTLE RED BOOK (Dec. 3)
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party,
carries a little red book with him all over the country.
Not the collection of quotations from communist leader Mao
Zedong - once brandished in parliament by Corbyn's would-be
finance minister - but a handwritten diary of knowledge he has
picked up on the election trail.
"The wisdom that is there amongst people all over the
country is something that absolutely inspires me, I go around
with a notebook everywhere," he said during a television
interview.
His interviewer on chat show 'This Morning' asked: "What are
you going to write about us?"
He replied: "What a charming morning I am having, what
wonderful Christmas decorations you’ve got."
THE CASE FOR RAIL INVESTMENT (Nov. 7)
British finance minister Sajid Javid tore up the spending
rules by promising to pump billions into upgrading the country's
schools, hospitals, roads and railways.
Shortly before his speech was due to start, word went around
from a Conservative Party official that the start of the event
in the northern English city of Manchester would have to be
delayed - problems on the railway had left the travelling press
pack stranded miles from the venue.
SIGNED, SEALED... DELIVERED? (Nov. 22)
When is a manifesto not a manifesto? Brexit Party leader
Nigel Farage says it is when it's a 'contract with the people'.
Farage eschewed the campaign tradition of a manifesto
launch, a glitzy media event to promote a book of policies the
party wants to implement if it wins power.
Instead, he invited journalists, left a small book of his
policies on each seat and made a grand entrance to a thumping
soundtrack ('Power' by Kanye West).
"This is not a manifesto, because a word association test
for manifesto gave us the word 'lies'," he said. "It's a
contract with the people."
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Janet Lawrence)