Sunak Gambles on Snap Poll, Things Can Only Get Wetter

Rishi Sunak's disastrous early election gamble, announced in the pouring rain outside No 10 on May 22, set the tone for the election campaign. Every newspaper used the image of a soaked PM struggling to be heard above the noise of the protester playing Things Can Only Get Better at the end of Downing Street. But no publication delivered with the impact, imagination and originality of The Telegraph. The PM's rain-soaked shoulders blasted across a broadsheet, with the headline of 'Things can only get wetter' providing a prophetic commentary on the shambolic Tory campaign to come. You could almost feel the dampness seeping through Sunak's suit onto his skin. The strapline gave the reader the story quickly: a gamble on a snap poll that was set to fail spectacularly. The bold and striking front page knocked its Fleet Street rivals into a cocked hat. Below, Gordon Rayner's incisive commentary neatly summarising the dilemma the PM had faced and the challenges ahead. A truly award-winning page one.