Gordon Brown relaunches Labour's campaign... with an Elvis impersonator

Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say.

And the Labour campaign took a surreal turn this morning.

The great relaunch of Labour's campaign took place this morning at an event in Corby - where Louise Bagshawe is poised to oust Labour MP Phil Hope - and involved Brown making a series of outrageous claims about how a Conservative government would reduce the NHS to a 'sub-standard' service.

His scare-mongering claims were all the more spurious given that the Conservatives have of course promised to increase spending on the NHS in real terms - a commitment which not even Labour will match.

And then came the weird bit. Onto the stage then came Labour's latest secret weapon: an Elvis impersonator. It really was quite bizarre.

I have not been able to verify reports that Labour is now considering using the 1958 Elvis B-side I Got Stung as its new campaign song, or indeed that Brown will adopt the King's little-known 1971 single I'm Leavin' as his personal theme at remaining campaign events... 

> Click here to watch the video of the bizarre spectacle

Jonathan Isaby