Rylan Clark has launched an impassioned takedown of the Tory party amid their in-fighting over the leadership race, telling them: “Stop being a fucking arsehole.”
During an appearance on Channel 4′s The Last Leg on Friday night, the presenter dismissed culture secretary Nadine Dorries’ recent comments about the wardrobes of leadership hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, and told MPs to focus on “running the country right”.
Asked for his thoughts on the increasingly toxic race to become the next prime minister, Rylan said: “I’ve got to be careful what I say, but every time I see Liz Truss, I hear ‘pork markets!’ and it puts me off,” he said referring to an infamous viral clip of the the then-environment secretary giving a speech in 2014. “And Rishi... it’s just getting a bit tit for tat now.”
He continued: “No one really wants a general election, but it’s going to have to get to that point because it’s about time now that the real people in this country make decisions about who’s running it, to be perfectly honest.”
Fellow guest, Labor MP Jess Phillips, remarked: “Rylan for prime minister!”
This is absolutely brilliant @Rylan on the #lastleg ???
Are you watching @Keir_Starmer ? #isitok#Rylan4PM@TheLastLeg@adamhillscomedy@joshwiddicombe@alex_brooker@jessphillips#ToryLeadershipContest#Toryleadership#Newsnight#C4News#bbcnews#bbcqt#Peston#Labourpic.twitter.com/aVsq3cup7E
— Simon ?? ????? (@codsallsi) July 29, 2022
Rylan then called “bullshit” on Dorries’ claim that Truss would be campaigning while wearing “earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire’s Accessories”, which had been a direct attack from the culture secretary on Sunak’s expensive wardrobe.
Rylan said: “One, who has been in Claire’s Accessories since they were 12, for a start? And second of all, I don’t care if you’re wearing a 200 grand suit, as long as you’re running the country right, I don’t care what’s on your feet and what’s on your back at the end of the day. Primark or Prada, I don’t care.
“I don’t think it really matters, and I’m not gonna start any beef with Nadine Dorries at all – I tweeted something about Edwina Currie and that was an exciting morning, let me tell you...”
He continued: “I don’t think it matters Jess, does it? I don’t care what you’re wearing, just run the country right, look after people in this country and stop being a fucking arsehole.”
As the audience applauded, host Adam Hills joked: “So glad you’re being careful about what you say.”
Rylan has regularly shared his take on politics on social media and also hosted Channel 4′s coverage of the last general election.
He has previously hit back at “snobby-arsed” critics of his political commentary explaining why he feels “no pressure to fit in a box others want to put (him) in” and why people have been wrong to dismiss him.
Speaking to The Big Issue, he said: “I decided to call them out on it thinking actually, you’re a fucking idiot, because I was a 30-year-old man who’s not in politics and I’m the sort of person you should be tapping into.
“With all due respect, the audience that I’ve got might not necessarily understand Brexit or what’s going on in parliament.”
He continued: “When I explain stuff on Twitter in layman’s terms people message me and go ‘Thanks for doing that, I didn’t really understand what WTO meant or what the Northern Irish backstop involved’.
“You can take the piss out of me all you want, but I’m probably informing the people who follow me more than you’re informing people.”
