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Politics
Kate Plummer
May 03, 2022
BBC presenter accidentally says Boris Johnson ‘spent his first night in prison’
Indy
Boris Johnson - or more likely a hapless civil servant running his Twitter account - has put his foot in it big time.
While out campaigning ahead of the local elections this Thursday, the prime minister posted a picture of him in Tyneside in Newcastle but said he was having a "fantastic day" in Teeside - which is an entirely different area in Middlesbrough.
Johnson has since deleted the message, posting another tweet which instead says: “It was a fantastic day to be out campaigning in the North East." Great idea, play it vague and play it safe...
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But the slip didn't go unnoticed by savvy social media users and opposition MPs:
Teesside, Tyneside, all the same to him.\n\nHe doesn\u2019t even know where he is.\n\nBritain deserves better.\n\nOn Thursday, vote Labour.pic.twitter.com/B2w0FMEUiu— Bridget Phillipson (@Bridget Phillipson) 1651520772
BREAKING: Embarrassing moment for Boris Johnson as he tweets that he was in Teesside (a place where everyone hates him) but he was actually in North Tyneside (another place where everyone hates him) x— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@Laura Kuenssberg Translator) 1651524669
maybe Boris Johnson does need the police to tell him he went to a party in his own home if he can\u2019t tell the difference between Teeside & Tynesidepic.twitter.com/iFRDQmXVCX— Toby Earle \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Toby Earle \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651523283
Boris Johnson was in Whitley Bay today... but he thought he was 40 miles away in Teesside. You still buying this Red Wall?\n#NorthTynesideNotTeessidepic.twitter.com/lJXyW6ZmAr— Otto English (@Otto English) 1651527397
Erm\u2026how to say this\u2026?\n\nThat\u2019s \ud835\udc0d\ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc13 Teesside.\n\n#WhitleyBaypic.twitter.com/fxb7ZaQs5A— Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39 (@Angela Rayner \ud83c\udf39) 1651519674
His mistake comes as the Tories are predicted to have the worst local election outcome since the 1990s. Labour is set to gain more than 800 seats while the Tories are set to lose almost 550 seats, according to a survey carried out by Electoral Calculus and Find Out Now.
Meanwhile, it is not the first time Johnson has grappled with geography. After Cop26 last year, he mistakenly said the historic climate change conference had taken place in Edinburgh, not Glasgow.
And if you thought chancellor Rishi Sunak was any better then think again. While being interviewed by the BBC about levelling up and his budget last year, he got Burnley and Bury mixed up and left people fuming.
Someone give the Tories a map of the UK - fast.
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