Veteran Guardian photojournalist Sean Smith is no stranger to general elections – he can recall photographing Michael Foot’s campaign in the early 1980s. But this is the first time the Labour candidate happens to be his local MP.
Week 1: Islington, Harlow
- Corbyn leaves his Islington home, London
- Corbyn addresses supporters in Harlow Park, Essex
After an unfortunate start to a rally in Harlow, in which he had to be told which way to face, Corbyn announced that Labour proposed to build 1m homes over the period of a parliament.
- Corbyn departs for a meeting, London
Week 2: Clapham, Leicester, Bedford, Islington
- Corbyn joins party members campaigning in Clapham, London
During the week, Corbyn told supporters in Leicester that Labour faced “a challenge on a historic scale” to win the election after a disastrous set of local ballots in which the party shed 320 councillors and lost control of strongholds including Glasgow.
- Corbyn prepares for TV lighting and interviews at Leicester Tigers rugby stadium
While visiting Bedford, Corbyn was presented with a red rose by a local party supporter.
- Corbyn is presented with a red rose in Bedford
- Corbyn is greeted by a supporter in Leicester. Right: Corbyn poses for a selfie in Bedford
- Corbyn visits Mildmay Festival of Nature and the Garden Classroom, a small local charity providing educational workshops for primary school children
Week 3: London, Worcester, York, Sheffield
- Despite using an autocue for some major speeches, Corbyn showed Sean some of the brief notes he more commonly uses
During the week, Corbyn delivered a major speech setting out his approach to foreign and defence policy in which he said fresh thinking was needed. The war on terror has been a failure, he maintained.
- Corbyn is interviewed for Channel 4 News at Chatham House, London
While visiting nursing students in Tory-held Worcester, Corbyn pledged to scrap hospital parking charges and cover the lost revenue with a rise in insurance premium tax for private health insurance products,
- Corbyn meets nursing students at the University of Worcester
- Corbyn addresses the media following the leak of the election manifesto, in Savoy Place, London
- Corbyn delivers a speech to a rally in York. Right: A young supporter in Sheffield
Week 4: Huddersfield, Southall, Peterborough, Bedford
- Corbyn speaks to supporters on the day the party launches its manifesto, in Beaumont Park, Huddersfield
In the week the party’s manifesto was launched, Corbyn told a West Yorkshire rally that he had left his own copy on Labour’s battle bus. He borrowed one from local candidate, Thelma Walker, to cheers from the crowd gathered in Beaumont Park.
- Corbyn visits the Sikh temple Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall, London
Following a visit to Southall, Corbyn tweeted: Lovely warm welcome & a really special afternoon amongst friends at the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall
- Corbyn travels from Bedford to a rally in Peterborough
- A supporter records a Corbyn address in Southall, London. Right: Corbyn visits Bedford Guild House, a centre for the over-50s that has lost all statutory funding
Week 5: Hull, Scarborough, London, Manchester
- Corbyn arrives to launch Labour’s cultural manifesto in Hull
During the week, the Labour leader chose Hull, UK City of Culture, to launch his party’s cultural manifesto, before travelling to Scarborough. Former deputy prime minister John Prescott clearly enjoyed the experience, with the Labour peer tweeting: “Back on the battlebus for Labour! It’s Prezza and Jezza!”
- Corbyn is joined by former deputy prime minister John Prescott in Scarborough
- Corbyn speaks to supporters at Scarborough Spa
Later that week, in an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil, Corbyn said: ‘The attack on Manchester was shocking, appalling, indefensible, wrong in every possible way.’
- Corbyn observes a minute’s silence in London for the victims of the Manchester Arena attack. Right: Corbyn attends a vigil in Albert Square in Manchester
Week 6: Reading, Cambridge
- Corbyn hails supporters in Cambridge following the TV debate
With hours to go before a live BBC showdown with other party leaders, Corbyn cancelled planned visits in the south-west and announced he would attend the TV election debate in Cambridge.
- Corbyn prepares to deliver a speech in Reading
At an earlier rally of supporters in Reading, Corbyn issued a challenge to Theresa May to join him at the debate in Cambridge. ”It’s very odd that we have an election campaign where we go out and talk to people all the time and the prime minister seems to have difficulties in meeting anyone or having a debate.”
- Corbyn talks to supporters outside Senate House, Cambridge. Right: Corbyn talks to Seamus Milne, executive director of strategy and communications, in Senate House
