The Liberal Democrats’ victory in the North Shropshire-by-election has sent shockwaves through the political establishment in the UK by toppling a Tory safe seat and giving Boris Johnson more to worry about.
And it didn’t take long for the excitement to turn into a wonderfully light-hearted cringe-fest as the Lib Dems wheeled out their latest stunt.
The newly-elected MP for the Midlands constituency Helen Morgan appeared on live TV along with former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron and deputy leader Daisy Cooper to celebrate the landmark win in Oswestry by literally bursting a big blue “Boris bubble”.
Brandishing a large yellow pin, Morgan stabbed at the ballon that was being held by Farron with some vigour, much to the delight of her supporters behind her who all cheered when the inflatable went pop.
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However, the scene didn’t exactly encourage jubilations from onlookers who didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at how cringe it was, with more than one comparison being made to The Thick of It.
This is the most Lib Dem thing I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/lR2Ta5x9v9
— Joshua Zitser (@mrjoshz) December 17, 2021
Every Lib Dem victory now has to involve a stunt straight out of The Thick Of It #NorthShropshire #NorthShropshireByElection https://t.co/1K3aeZI6GR
— Yelling About Elections (@YellElections) December 17, 2021
All of this is extremely British pic.twitter.com/XmJU03599k
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) December 17, 2021
It’s giving potential Nicola Murray https://t.co/KMvKHKodgE pic.twitter.com/IB9WMOvWtJ
— YNES (@ynesmusic) December 17, 2021
I quite like how unapologetically cringe the Lib Dems are … https://t.co/A2YHt7SQym
— Steve Hyndside (@SteveHyndside) December 17, 2021
Imagine this being the first thing you do as an MP. https://t.co/fd900tJZBI
— Dr David Jeffery (@DrDavidJeffery) December 17, 2021
Right, whoever keeps coming up with these props, you deserve a pint.
— Sam Phripp 🔶🏳️🌈 (@samphripp) December 17, 2021
Are they high brow or cerebral? No. Are they brilliant and funny political images? Absolutely. https://t.co/2vDAiAmwka
Why oh why do the LibDems do gimmick stunts after they win? This👇is why. It will show up on every news bulletin because it is visual shorthand. Let me know if you need any more comms explainers. https://t.co/SWa29lzgxk
— Rebecca Trenner (@trenner_rebecca) December 17, 2021
Am I doing this right https://t.co/GcRKPPmYTy pic.twitter.com/59ecqIjgBz
— Paul Haine (@paul_haine) December 17, 2021
There were also some concerns about how big the pin was and how closely Farron avoided a nasty injury on live television.
Am I the only viewer who worried about the possibility of her accidentally stabbing the guy holding the balloon? https://t.co/masu3E8UzM
— Anne Billson (@AnneBillson) December 17, 2021
I'm impressed that @timfarron didn't flinch as a sharp object hurls towards his stomach :) https://t.co/Ws6oaP1HCc
— Mark Pack 🔶 (@markpack) December 17, 2021
For moment I thought things were going to go horribly wrong and Tim Farron was going to be terribly injured in a metaphor related skewering https://t.co/q6neWbwwNS
— Matt Wain (@TheMattWain) December 17, 2021
All things considered, this is hardly the first or the last time that the Lib Dems will perform a big gimmick stunt of this nature – you could kind of say that it is now their gimmick and definitely keeps them in the headlines and on television.
Speaking afterwards, Farron said: “Millions of people have woken up this morning feeling a bit of light has broken into the darkness” thanks to the shock result.
“It turns out that if you are incompetent, it turns out if you tell lies, it turns out that if you take the people for granted, there is a price to pay. Democracy and justice is alive and well in Britain and the people of North Shropshire have spoken for the whole of Britain.”
