It all started out comically enough. When British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stood outside 10 Downing Street in the pouring rain to announce the country’s July 4 snap election, there was a palpable feeling of excitement. Five years (and three prime ministers) since Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019, the British people would finally get their chance to elect a new government—one that, if the polls are to be believed, will almost certainly end with Sunak’s ruling Conservatives getting booted from power after 14 years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But whatever excitement the snap election generated seemed to quickly give way to bewilderment and disillusionment as, gaffe after gaffe, the Conservatives appeared to sacrifice what little hope they had of narrowing Labour’s poll lead and consequently staving off an electoral wipeout.