The humiliating result for the Liberal Democrats in the Rochester by-election resonates with a string of embarrassments suffered by candidates in previous campaigns. Here are some of the worst.
1. The Portillo Moment
More than any other moment of the 1997 Labour landslide Michael Portillo's loss of the Enfield Southgate seat to Stephen Twigg came to symbolise Conservative Party humiliation. Footage of the announcement and Mr Portillo's reaction was broadcast repeatedly on television. Mr Portillo himself commented, 13 years later, that as a consequence of the defeat: "My name is now synonymous with eating a bucketload of s*** in public."
2. When Gordon Met Gillian
Gordon Brown was already feeling the pressure when he met Gillian Duffy in the run-up to the 2010 general election. The prime minister had just finished a visit to a community payback scheme when Mrs Duffy - a long-term Labour supporter - confronted him. She complained about paying tax on her pension, immigration, and asked him how he would pay back Britain's escalating national debt. Mr Brown acknowledged her complaints but then, after getting into his car, forgot he still had an attached microphone. He was then recorded saying that meeting Mrs Duffy was a "disaster" and accused her of being "bigoted". Mr Brown was out of Number 10 within weeks.
3. Bush Throws Up Over Prime Minister
Critics were already rounding on George H W Bush for being "out of touch" and "too old" when he threw up over the Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on 8 January, 1992 - and then fainted. Mr Bush was attending a state event for 135 diplomats at the home of Mr Miyazawa, in the run-up to the 1992 election when he began vomiting. According to USA Today, the incident was one of the top "25 memorable public meltdowns that had us talking and laughing or cringing over the past quarter-century". Later in the year, Mr Bush was defeated in his bid for another four years in the White House by Bill Clinton.
George Bush senior collapses during dinner with the Japanese PM
4. And When The Chips Are Down...
Mr Bush's Vice President Dan Quayle helped spell further disaster for the president with a series of gaffes in the run-up to the November 1992 vote. Mr Quayle's most famous blunder was arguably altering student William Figueroa's correct spelling of "potato" - demanding that an "e" be added to the word, leaving "potatoe". "There you go," he said, after the student added the "e". The spelling error was filmed and aired on all TV stations.
Dan Quayle's spelling mishap
5. Romney And His American Victims
Mitt Romney was fighting Barack Obama for the presidential vote when he was secretly recorded at a campaign fundraising event for wealthy donors in September 2012. He was heard saying that 47% of Americans were dependent on the government, describing them as "victims". He said his job was "not to worry about those people". The remark became a central theme for the rest of the campaign and some analysts believe it led to his defeat in November.
6. Palin's Crib Sheets
In 2010, Sarah Palin announced that she might consider running for the Presidency, and was "having that discussion with my family". But she faced ridicule when she turned up to make an important address with notes written on her hand. Closer inspection revealed the words "energy," "tax" and "lift American spirits" on her hand. To make matters worse she had repeatedly mocked President Obama for his use of a teleprompter during speeches.
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