From calls for forced labour to trusting Boris Johnson, truth has been stranger than fiction this week – but only just

Candidate of the week

Congratulations to Lee Anderson, the Tory candidate for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, who submitted a stellar entry for this category in a campaign video. “These people, who have to live somewhere, let’s have them in a tent in the middle of a field,” he said. Had he been talking about the current political class, there would have been a clamour to make Anderson prime minister.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lee Anderson. Fan of tents. Photograph: Facebook

Unfortunately, it was the opener to his view that nuisance neighbours on an estate should be submitted to forced labour. No-nonsense home secretary Priti Patel was furious – she’d been planning to reveal that policy next week.

Interview of the week

The BBC audience: Corbyn was grilled, Johnson was toasted, Swinson incinerated. Kudos to those in attendance at the BBC Question Time event on Friday, whose almost literal dissection of the party leaders gave us the greatest insight of this election so far. That insight in full – “none of the above” has a great chance of making it to No 10.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sheffield 4-0 Politics. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA

Candidate of the week: part 2

Interesting tactics from the Brexit party, with some candidates telling voters not to vote for them. The Dudley North hopeful Rupert Lowe announced he would no longer be running in the Labour-held marginal. The move was designed to help the Conservatives win the seat, trusting Boris Johnson to deliver Brexit. After all, if there’s one word that really sums up the prime minister, “trustworthy” is right up there. Questionable strategy decisions seem to plague Lowe.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Brexit party’s Rubert Lowe has pulled out of Labour-held marginal Dudley North. Photograph: Matthew Cooper/PA

Back in the 2000s, he secured the services of England’s Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward to oversee the performance of his club side. Quite a coup, you’d think – except that his club, Southampton, played football and not rugby. Much like Lowe’s political career, it didn’t end well.

Photograph: Conservative party/PA

Theme of the week

Fakery: First up, Tory HQ made its bid for most heinous attempt to hoodwink the electorate by rebranding its Twitter account as FactCheckUK – a new twist on the old “wallet inspector” play for the digital age.

Not to be outdone, a tweeter invented the claim that the Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, had been spotted firing pebbles at squirrels. Stories that haven’t yet been invented include Boris Johnson harassing a ferret and Jeremy Corbyn teasing a skunk, but there’s time.