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Liam O'Dell
Jul 10, 2022
Penny Mordaunt launches Tory leadership bid with video featuring Boris Johnson
Penny Mordaunt
Former defence secretary and paymaster general Penny Mordaunt formally announced her desire to become the next leader of the Conservative Party on Sunday, complete with a fancy, patriotic video setting out her priorities.
Stating the obvious by saying “leadership has to change”, the more than three-minute long video concludes with the Royal Navy reservist making a boat analogy.
“It needs to become a little less about the leader, and a lot more about the ship,” she said.
A shipwreck, more like, as the video has already been hit by controversy just short of three hours after it was published on social media.
With the video featuring several high-profile individuals, one of them has already responded to the clip to request that he is removed from the promotional material.
Paralympian Jonnie Peacock wrote: “I officially request to be removed from this video… Anything but blue please.”
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The runner has already been praised for his views on the matter:
\u201c@JonniePeacock @PennyMordaunt I'd like to know how many other people have been 'used' without their permission?\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657441824
\u201c@JonniePeacock @PennyMordaunt Well done Jonnie. I was worried you'd gone to the dark side. But I had a feeling she'd not asked for your permission\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657441824
\u201c@JonniePeacock @PennyMordaunt Can\u2019t believe you weren\u2019t even asked for your consent. Oh, hang on\u2026..\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657441824
\u201c@JonniePeacock @PennyMordaunt Well said Jonnie!\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657441824
And of course, it gets worse, as another face featured in the campaign video is a police officer, with the Mirror’s political correspondent Rachel Wearmouth pointing out the rules on impartiality for UK coppers:
\u201cIt's not clear whether Mordaunt's team sought permission for a number of images used in the video. \nThe clip also appears to show a serving police officer. Cops are politically restricted and cannot be used in election material unless they are unidentifiable.\u201d— Rachel Wearmouth (@Rachel Wearmouth) 1657456127
It’s laid out clearly in the College of Policing’s Code of Ethics, which reads: “Police officers must not take any active part in politics. This is intended to prevent you from placing yourself in a position where your impartiality may be questioned.”
Emphasis on the second sentence there, Penny.
Oh, and have we mentioned the part of the video where convicted Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is seen talking to Mr Peacock?
A reminder: Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison – later increased to 13 years and five months – back in 2013 for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkemp, who he shot dead on Valentine’s Day.
\u201cOscar Pistorius\nMorduant's cock up campaign video.\n\nLook - all tories are seriously THICK\nfollowed by the THICKER STILL\u201d— SuzieWong \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf4 \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfe \ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf0 (@SuzieWong \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf4 \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfe \ud83c\uddfe\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf0) 1657459943
\u201cthe use of the image of Jo Cox whilst the voiceover states Conservatives don\u2019t have the \u201cmonopoly on good ideas or people\u201d is absolutely abhorrent. as is using footage including convicted murderer, Oscar Pistorius.\u201d— Em (@Em) 1657457707
\u201cAlso, one of those sportspeople appears to be Oscar Pistorious.\u201d— Kevin Schofield (@Kevin Schofield) 1657444312
\u201c@PennyMordaunt Why is Oscar Pistorius in your video? You\u2019re supposed to be convincing women you care about them, remember!\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657441824
\u201cOscar Pistorius at the back there\u201d— Ava-Santina (@Ava-Santina) 1657449402
\u201cBeing so pro-woman that you feature Oscar Pistorius in your campaign video.\u201d— Felicity \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f \u2640\ufe0f (@Felicity \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f \u2640\ufe0f) 1657460196
At just after 2:30pm on Sunday, Ms Mordaunt appeared to repost the video with Mr Peacock and Pistorious's sections removed, and replaced with footage of UK landmarks and an aeroplane.
\u201cOur leadership has to change. It needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship. \n\nhttps://t.co/NlpxAb9Dp4\n\n#pm4pm\u201d— Penny Mordaunt (@Penny Mordaunt) 1657459925
Indy100 has approached Penny Mordaunt’s team for comment.
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