AS if the re-branding of George Osborne as a centrist-dad podcaster wasn’t torture enough.
During the latest episode of the Political Currency podcast – which Osborne presents alongside fellow milquetoast political casualty Ed Balls – Osborne recounted how he fumbled the pronunciation of a Scottish town name.
“My first speech as shadow chancellor in the House of Commons, I got up.
“Gordon Brown was the chancellor. He’d seen off, I think, six or seven former shadow chancellors. People like Michael Portillo and Francis Maude and Michael Howard, who were big figures as I was only 33-years-old.
“I got up and I thought I’d start on a really, sort of, friendly gesture, which was to congratulate him on being the MP for a new constituency, which I called Kirk-caldy and Cowdenbeath.
“It’s Kirkcaldy you Southern tw@t!” - How @George_Osborne’s first speech as shadow chancellor backfired. 🎧 Listen to Political Currency: https://t.co/TeZdSYV87C pic.twitter.com/Ex28p2Uc6K
— Political Currency (@polcurrency) December 2, 2023
“I said: ‘Can I congratulate the Right Honourable gentleman on becoming the new MP for Kirk-caldy’ “At which point a Labour MP shouted out: ‘It’s Kirkcaldy you southern t**t’.
“And that was the end of my speech as shadow chancellor.”
It seems that Osborne did learn how to correctly pronounce Kirkcaldy.
However, if his Scottish accent is anything to go by, he has never bothered to visit.
Now, The Jouker has no issue with folks attempting a Scottish accent (although it is notoriously difficult not to butcher).
But perhaps Osborne should stick to his day job of attempting to re-brand as a fuzzy podcast host rather than the dead-eyed chancellor who seemed to relish enforcing austerity.
