Suella Braverman falls for embarrassing prank by UK comedy channel
Braverman believed she was invited to a small boat naming ceremony in her Fareham constituency
December 17, 2023
Suella Braverman, the United Kingdom’s ex-home minister, was pranked by one of the country's comedy programmes into accepting its "D*** of the Year" award in person.
Two YouTube jokers, Joshua Pieters and Archie Manners, who were hired by the comedy show "The Last Leg", tricked the laid-off minister into believing they were constituents of a fake fishing firm called "Fareham Fishing”, Daily Mail reported.
Last week, Braverman, who has adopted a tough stance against small boat migrants trying to cross the English Channel, attended what she believed to be a small boat naming ceremony on the Wallington River, in her Fareham constituency.
However, during the segment, as she cut a red ribbon to unveil the plaque, it instead named her as the winner of the humiliating award, which was put to a vote of the programme's followers of X, formerly known as Twitter.
The prankster hosts personally awarded Braverman the prize before walking off the pier, leaving her slightly stunned.
After an awkward few moments, Braverman was seen looking toward her staff before saying: “I’m not sure what that is all about”.
Each year "The Last Leg" gives the award to an unwitting public figure, who is chosen by viewers and the show’s hosts.
According to The Independent, Braverman was sacked as home secretary last month after accusing Metropolitan Police chiefs of bias in handling pro-Palestine protests.
Additionally, the Fareham MP had strained relationships with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over her claim that being homeless was a "lifestyle choice” and has criticised his illegal migration policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
In an interview with BBC, she defended her attacks on Sunak and put pressure on him by insisting that his Rwanda deportation legislation is doomed to fail.
The right-winger was challenged by an interviewer, who told her: “You are a headline grabber and you do it by spreading poison, even within your own party.”
Braverman, who has claimed Sunak is “weak”, replied: “Sometimes honesty is uncomfortable, but I’m not going to shy away from telling people how it is and from plain speaking, and if that upsets polite society, then I’m sorry about that.”
The pranksters who run a YouTube page named "Josh & Archie" with over 1.5 million followers have previously carried out pranks against several people including the activist group, Just Stop Oil.
In a statement, the YouTubers said: "We knew Suella liked boats and photocalls, so we hope she will forgive us for setting up this ruse which was really all about celebrating her and her award."
