Just when you thought politics couldn’t get any more bizarre, a student police officer fell ill during a speech Boris Johnson was giving to launch an election campaign that has not begun.

The prime minister was foiled in his efforts to trigger a snap election by opposition parties but ploughed on with a speech in front of a wall of Yorkshire officers which looked suspiciously like a campaign launch.

But he arrived late and as he attacked Jeremy Corbyn for refusing an election, one of the officers was forced to sit down, having stood up for more than an hour in the sun waiting for Johnson.

The PM took the hint and brought the event in Wakefield to a swift conclusion.

Reporters at the scene said the officer was still sitting down and being looked after when they left the event, while another had to have their sunburn checked by a superior.

After arriving late, Johnson got off to a bad start as he tried to recite the police caution.

The well-known script reads: “You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

But Johnson forgot it.

It was unclear whether the officers behind him were meant to join in, but they did not.

Having lost a hat-trick of Commons votes, denied a snap election and seen his brother Jo Johnson quit his government over Brexit, this will be the last thing the PM wanted to happen today.