LONDON • Love, Actually is all around this year in Britain's pre-Christmas election. The 2003 romantic comedy about the love lives of assorted Londoners over the holiday season has played a surprisingly large role in the campaign for today's general election.

It has inspired political advertisements from both Labour and the Conservatives, and Love, Actually star Hugh Grant has been out on the campaign trail urging voters to oust Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mr Johnson's Conservatives flooded social media on Tuesday with an ad parodying the Love, Actually scene in which Mark (Andrew Lincoln) stands at the door of secret crush Juliet (Keira Knightley), professing his love on a series of cue cards while her new husband sits obliviously inside.

In the political ad, Mr Johnson stands on the threshold of a voter's home, promising that if she votes Conservative "by this time next year, we'll have Brexit done and we can move on". The ad ends with an entreaty to "Vote Conservative actually".

Mr Johnson says he will lead Britain out of the European Union by the scheduled Jan 31 deadline if he wins today's election.

Opposition Labour candidate Rosena Allin-Khan accused the Conservatives of ripping off her own Love, Actually spoof, posted several weeks ago, in which she persuades a Conservative voter to change his mind.

The Conservative ad sparked a flood of parodies, with rival parties and social media users replacing the writing on Mr Johnson's cards with less flattering slogans.

Party campaigners probably would not mind: The Conservatives' digital strategy has been to get supporters and detractors alike talking about the party.

Former justice secretary David Gauke, who was expelled by Mr Johnson for opposing his Brexit plan and is running as an independent, tweeted a photo of himself holding a card with the words, "Brexit won't get done, actually."

Love, Actually has become a holiday season TV staple for many Britons. Some film fans cringe at its saccharine elements, like the adorable child who is helped by his stepdad (played by Liam Neeson) to woo a classmate.

But just as many cherish the scene in which Grant, as a boyish British prime minister, berates a boorish US president (played by Billy Bob Thornton). That role helped make Grant a liberal heartthrob and he has become increasingly political in real life, campaigning against press intrusion and the hacking of celebrities.

In this election, Grant has gone out on the campaign trail with non-Conservative candidates, urging electors to vote tactically to kick Mr Johnson's party out of office.

ASSOCIATED PRESS