Boris Johnson's attempt to lighten the mood of the election campaign by releasing a video based on festive film Love Actually has backfired - after it emerged a Labour candidate released a near-identical video two weeks ago.

The Conservative leader's video riffs on the scene in the film where a man attempts to woo a woman using oversized flashcards.

Mr Johnson's message to the floating voter in the video begins, "With any luck, next year we'll get Brexit done", and goes on to warn that "the other guy could win".

But perhaps inevitably, it turns out the Prime Minister "borrowed" the idea from a Labour candidate - Rosena Allin-Khan, standing in Tooting.

The placards in Dr Allin-Khan's video, originally posted on November 22, tell a rather different story: "With any luck, next year I'll be your MP and our country won't be run by these muppets."

Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 this morning, star of the original film Hugh Grant said: "One of the cards Boris Johnson didn't hold up was the one saying 'Because at Christmas you tell the truth.'"

Meanwhile Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn released a light-hearted video of his own, using the popular 'Mean Tweets' format which features him reading out, and responding to, less-than-complementary social media posts about him.

Seated in an armchair by a roaring fire, Mr Corbyn gives his response to comments such as "I'll bet Jeremy Corbyn will be glad when this election is over so he can go back to wearing his commie hat."

His response to that one? "I wear a cap! It's a bit like when I was told I was riding a Maoist bicycle."

Droll. But honestly, won't we all be glad when this election over? Two more sleeps...