Nigella Lawson leads roasting of Tory MP who claimed Boris Johnson was ‘ambushed by cake’
Nigella Lawson (L) and Conor Burns. (Getty Images)
Nigella Lawson is leading the chorus of criticism against a British MP who absurdly claimed that Boris Johnson was “ambushed” by a birthday cake.
Conservative MP for Bournemouth West Conor Burns told Channel 4 this week that the prime minister’s birthday celebration in 2020 was not a “premeditated party”.
“As far as I can see, he was in a sense, ambushed with a cake,” he said. “They came to his office with a cake, they sang happy birthday, he was there for 10 minutes.”
The surprise birthday party is the latest in a steady drip of more than a dozen social get-togethers held by government officials at a time when such functions were forbidden.
Lawson, the camp food writer and television cook who has been a British TV mainstay since the early 2000s, slammed the openly gay lawmaker’s bizarre claim on Twitter.
“Ambushed by Cake: it just has to be the title of my next book!” she tweeted Tuesday (25 Wednesday). “#AmbushedByCake.”
Ambushed by Cake: it just has to be the title of my next book! #AmbushedByCake
— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) January 25, 2022
But Burns in an attempt to do what human beings call “humour”, replied to Lawson’s tweet. “It’s yours if you want it?” he wrote back.
“Could I include my Granny’s Christmas cake recipe?”
Lawson, however, was not amused. Probably seeing Burns as comparable to a bitter orange tart, she said: “This is just too meta.
This is just too meta. Plus, you think it’s a joke? Says it all https://t.co/5syf68t2N3— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) January 25, 2022
“Plus, you think it’s a joke? Says it all.”
Nigella Lawson dubbed ‘high priestess’ for burning Conor Burns amid partygate
Considering that beauty that Lawson’s burn to Burns took place on Burns Night, her 2.7 million followers praised the cook for scorching the MP to a crisp.
“Queen Nigella!!” tweeted one user. “#ConorBurns you absolute mug.”
“I thought I couldn’t adore her anymore and then this happens!” another added. “How to burn with style.”
“Nigella Lawson just went from qween to high priestess of us all,” a third user said.
Lawson’s dig at Boris-loyalist Burns is in no way an outlier. Countless people – from lawmakers to budget airlines – have berated Burns for his bizarre defence of Johnson.
The cake “ambushed” Boris Johnson. There he was, minding his own business. Suddenly the cake burst into the room with a ‘eat me’ sign on its side. Johnson was astonished but inadvertently started chomping….#LewisCarroll #JohnsonInWonderCakeLand https://t.co/iF3JF2YXsp— JOHN NICOLSON M.P. (@MrJohnNicolson) January 25, 2022
It’s still only January and we have our phrase of the year #AmbushedWithACake https://t.co/tPBqBl8lft— Dearbhail McDonald (@DearbhailDibs) January 26, 2022
The Great British Fake Off #cakeambush #suegrayreport https://t.co/HSz0Vfo4YR pic.twitter.com/HBpoC2gMf1
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) January 25, 2022
"Have you been the victim of a cake ambush that wasn't your fault?" https://t.co/qdndWNnf9L— Edwin Hayward ? ? (@uk_domain_names) January 25, 2022
I think we've officially reached the point where an undignified silence would be preferable to MPs trying to help him. https://t.co/IiI0ciBFjF— Malcolm V Tucker ?☠️ (@Tucker5law) January 25, 2022
I understand his pain. I am always being ambushed with wine. Sometimes the wine itself ambushes me in the shop. https://t.co/BVszHfBP2f— Johnny Fallon (@jonnyfallon) January 25, 2022
Burns, the Northern Ireland minister, sought to defend prime minister Boris Johnson from the latest career-threatening challenge to his premiership: A birthday cake.
Downing Street confirmed Monday that staff members gathered to celebrate Johnson’s 56th birthday in June 2020, the latest in an ever-growing series of at least 16 wine-filled, lockdown-breaking parties, gatherings and leaving dos across Downing Street, Whitehall and other government offices.
ITV News reported claims that Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, had even helped to organise the surprise get-together in the Cabinet Room at a time when indoor gatherings were not legal under coronavirus guidelines.
Up to 30 people attended the birthday bash, with snacks eaten and a birthday cake shared, the broadcaster added.
Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson (L) leaves Number 10 Downing Street. (DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
“A group of staff working in No 10 that day gathered briefly in the Cabinet Room after a meeting to wish the prime minister a happy birthday,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “He was there for less than 10 minutes.”
But those 10 minutes add to the growing headache Johnson is facing, who has suffered repeated blows in recent weeks to his authority.
Among them, the Metropolitan Police announced an investigation into the parties held at 10 Downing Street and beyond, Lord Theodore Agnew resigning in protest of the government’s handling of fraud in government COVID-19 loans and claims that party whips had threatened Tory lawmakers into supporting the government.
Earlier, amid growing pressure, Johnson had ordered an inquiry into biting allegations of Islamophobia within his government.
Nusrat Ghani, a junior minister at the Department of Transport, lost her job during a 2020 cabinet reshuffle – her “Muslimness” had been given as one reason for this, she alleged to The Sunday Times.
