In this all-star edition of the podcast we speak to Gyles Brandreth and John Sergeant about parallels with previous General Elections, and veteran journalist and author Michael Crick about his work tracking parliamentary candidate selections.

Sarah and Nigel also discuss how much fun Ed Davey is having on the campaign trail, Rishi Sunak's excitement at taking a sleeper train, and whether Diane Abbott will be allowed to stand as a Labour MP. We also take another trip back to 1997 to cover that year's campaign in real time...

Produced by the Centre for Opposition Studies

Presented by Nigel Fletcher and Sarah Southern

Theme Music by Tom Hector