The Conservative general election campaign is turning into Theresa May hiding in a number of obscure locations around the country repeating the words “strong” and “stable” at Potemkin villages of Tory activists.
Your mole has totted up all the times the Prime Minister appears to have avoided speaking to (shudder) Ordinary People.
1. Refusing to debate Jeremy Corbyn
Theresa May is refusing to appear head-to-head with the Labour leader in TV debates, causing Corbyn to ask “If she’s so proud of her record, why won’t she debate it?” and a man dressed as a chicken employed by the Mirror chasing her around.
@theresa_may Boooooook bok bok pic.twitter.com/oLmPQTsqYO
— Mirror Chicken (@MirrorChicken) April 21, 2017
2. Visiting a factory in Clay Cross, Derbyshire
Theresa May visited the IKO Polymeric factory in Clay Cross, Derbyshire – but it looked suspiciously sparse in there for a working day. She was accused of failing to meet the factory workers, only answering questions from journalists while she was there.
Photo: Getty
It was here that she forgot where on the campaign trail she was, telling journalists: “I’m pleased to come to this…er…this particular town.”
She has no idea where she is. Literally pic.twitter.com/m4EN3CN5F0
— Ross Crombie (@RossCrombie) April 27, 2017
3. Speaking at a Leeds business centre – after the workers had all left
At at a campaign event at the Shine building in Leeds, the Prime Minister spoke to a room full of guests invited by the party, rather than local people or people who work in the building’s office space.
Residents of the Labour constituency spied pictures of the campaign event online and claimed that the audience didn’t look like who you’d expect to see at Shine – a grade II-listed Victorian school that has been renovated into a community project hosting office space and meeting rooms.
Shine insisted that this was a private event booked out by the party – the guest list was up to the Tories, not the businesses in the building.
“She didn’t arrive until we’d all left for the day. Everyone in the building past 6pm was invite-only,” tweeted Rik Kendell, a Leeds-based developer and designer who says he works in the Shine building. “They seemed to seek out the most clinical corner for their PR photos. Such a beautiful building to work in.”
Theresa May is live in Leeds on Labour territory tonight! What shall I ask her? #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/Kv6qxoRRUd
— Christopher Hope (@christopherhope) April 27, 2017
Jeremy Corbyn accused May of “hiding from the public”, and local Labour MP Richard Burgon commented that, “like a medieval monarch, she simply briefly relocated her travelling court of admirers to town and then moved on without so much as a nod to the people she considers to be her lowly subjects”.
4. Listing her rally in Scotland as a child’s birthday party
During a trip up to Scotland, May dodged Aberdeenshire locals by listing her rally as a child’s birthday party, booked out from 10am to 5pm at Crathes village hall. Voters were miffed. “It’s been so secretive, they are supposed to be holding these big rallies but all she’s doing is hiding in little village halls, not saying they are going to be there,” one told the Independent.
What doorknocking she did do in Scotland didn’t involve many people opening the door – and led to a Benny Hill YouTube remix:
5. “Locking” journalists away while visiting an industrial estate in Cornwall
Local reporters were furious at the stage-management of May’s trip to a Cornish industrial estate, accusing her of a “level of media control here is far and above anything I’ve seen before”. Cornwall Live staffers called the event “very tightly controlled” and said they were kept away from the PM in a separate room until they were allowed three minutes of questions – which they weren’t allowed to film.
Well, I’ve had better visits. This was me, shut in a room, while Theresa May was in #Cornwall https://t.co/JbHpFqINzc pic.twitter.com/0XD4f0uqah
— Graeme Wilkinson (@Graemewilki) May 2, 2017
A Tory spokesperson described the situation as a “last minute request to add a camera to a pre-arranged pool of broadcast cameras”, which was “not possible”.
Content from our partners
Related
