General election: Which politicians have been the winners and losers on TV?

Some have shone on-screen but others have had to be taken into hiding, writes Sean O'Grady

Head-to-head: from Nigel Farage to John McDonnell, how they fared in front of the camera (ITV/BBC/EPA/Getty)

The general election of 2019 will be remembered for many things, but probably not the quality of its discourse and the integrity of those taking part in it. Politicians have always enjoyed a fairly poor reputation among the public. As the old joke goes: “Don’t tell my mother I’m a politician – she thinks I play piano in a brothel.” Nothing, as someone once said, has changed.

Few of those begging for our votes have emerged from this contest with their reputations enhanced: but there are exceptions… here are some of the media winners and losers. We’ve omitted Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, on the grounds that they’ve had their share of coverage, for good or ill.

Winners