A British Paralympic gold medalist asked to be cut from Penny Mordaunt’s Tory leadership campaign video – which also showed convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius.
Jonnie Peacock was shown winning the 100m sprint in the London 2012 Paralympics in the clip launching Ms Mordaunt’s bid, when it was first posted on Sunday morning.
He was seen outpacing and later being congratulated by South African paralympian Pistorius, who is currently in jail for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Mr Peacock replied to Ms Mordaunt’s bombastic clip – set to the patriotic rugby anthem “World in Union” – on Twitter.
“I officially request to be removed from this video…. Anything but [Tory] blue please,” he wrote, adding a smiling face emoji.
A number of social media users replied with clapping emojis and “well said”.
Eyebrows had also been raised over Pistorius being shown in the initial campaign clip, with many asking on Twitter why the convicted murderer was included at all.
Ms Mordaunt later tweeted out another version of the campaign video, which cut out the segment showing both Paralympians.
The international trade secretary entered the Tory leadership race on Sunday with the video, saying the position “needs to become a little less about the leader and a lot more about the ship”.
The Plymouth MP’s video also featured Boris Johnson making the joke “Let’s get Breakfast done”, as well as images of Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.
She has joined eight other candidates in the Tory leadership race, including former chancellor Rishi Sunak and former health secretary Sajid Javid, who both held their government roles before sensationally resigning last week.
Others include transport secretary Grant Shapps, chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and foreign affairs committee chair Tom Tugendhat.
All are now putting forward their case to be the next Tory leader after Mr Johnson announced he would be stepping down last week amid a widespread Tory rebellion.
Brexit, tax cuts and transgender rights are among the issues the hopefuls have been setting out their positions on.
Ms Mordaunt has been approached for comment.
