Clip broadcast on Sky shows woman frustrated at mention of her local MP’s name

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

A video clip of an older woman denouncing Boris Johnson as a “filthy piece of toerag” has gone viral.

The clip was first broadcast on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, as part of a package about voter opinion in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, the constituency on the outskirts of west London which Johnson represents as an MP.

Ridge encountered mixed views about the prime minister, as is usual for a reporter conducting a vox pops.

But the highlight of the package came when Ridge approached an unnamed and seemingly mild-mannered woman and started asking a question. As soon as Ridge mentioned the fact this was Johnson’s constituency, the woman erupted, saying: “Don’t you ever mention that name in front of me, that filthy piece of toerag,” before walking off.

Like “Brenda from Bristol”, who found fame in 2017 after responding to a question about the calling of a snap general election by saying “you’re joking – not another one”, Ridge’s interviewee seems to have encapsulated the views of a portion of the nation, as the clip has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

“This constituent in Uxbridge sees right through Boris Johnson,” said the Labour MP David Lammy in a tweet.

Nevertheless, Ridge did find other voters in the constituency supportive of Johnson, particularly leave supporters who thought he was determined to deliver Brexit.

Johnson had a majority of 10,695 over Labour in 2015, but that fell to 5,034 in 2017, leading Labour’s current candidate in the constituency, Ali Milani, to believe that he has a decent chance of unseating him.