The 2001 general election was one of the dullest in recent history. The only moment of excitement came from north Wales, when John Prescott punched a man in the face. On the tenth anniversary of that punch, the New Statesman looks at some moments when the voters have got a bit too close to MPs.
John Prescott
The Prescott video comes into its own during the slow-motion replay. You see the egg splatter, Prescott turn, doublecheck that the thrower isn’t a woman, and then punch the guy on the chin.
Peter Mandelson
Below, in a decidedly more middle-class incident, Mandelson is covered in a green sludge by a Heathrow protester who simply wanders off as he goes inside to get changed.
Tony Blair
In 2004, Blair was bombarbed by condoms filled with purple flour, thrown during PMQs by members of Fathers 4 Justice (below).
David Cameron
During the 2010 election, Cameron was the victim of a hoodie-wearing egg-thrower who presumably took umbrage at the thought of being hugged by the future prime minister. The video below shows the throw but, alas, not the hit, as well as the egg-thrower being carted away in a police van.
Robert Kilroy-Silk
Finally, Kilroy-Silk, the permatanned former MEP, looked browner than usual when a protester threw a bucket of manure over him after the MEP made comments about Islam in 2005. Sadly, no footage of this exists.
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