Election diary: the manifestos drop and Rish! reveals a

The Lib Dems led the pack – on manifesto launch catering – and we finally learned the extent of the PM’s childhood deprivation

UK general election live – latest updates

The pace picked up in week three with most of the main parties launching their election manifestos. First up on Monday were the Lib Dems, as Ed Davey took time off from his theme park adventures for the morning to take centre stage in a rather glitzy office space in north London.

Next up were the Tories who, for reasons best known to themselves, had decamped to an anonymous hall in the middle of Silverstone. No one even got near a car. Cue endless gags about driving round and round in circles, going nowhere. The cabinet looked less than thrilled to have been dragged away from trying to defend their seats for the day to act as a support act for a prime minister in whom they have lost confidence.