On a brief respite from electioneering to spend time with his family, Labour Party leader Gordon Brown found that lightning can strike twice after making an unfortunate unguarded remark when checking on his young children during an awkward and uncomfortable visit from his mother-in-law.
Sarah’s mother had been sitting in the living room of the private residence of the Browns in Downing Street, despite not having been offered another cup of tea for several hours, before Gordon had finally noted it was about time they got some dinner. Following her acceptance of the unintended offer to join the couple for supper, the premier had followed his wife out of the room to check on the boys and forgotten about the Tomy Walkabout Classic monitor still in the bedroom of their youngest, with the receiver live on the living room side table.
‘When is this awful bigoted woman going home?’ Brown was heard to ask his wife who, after turning off the monitor, immediately demanded Brown explain what it was that she had said that had caused him to react so strongly, when as far as she was concerned her mother had merely pointed out that David Cameron really knew how to knot a tie properly, and asked Sarah if she’d heard the news that that nice young Liberal Democrat she’d once dated was doing very well and due for a promotion in his job.
Brown was last seen heading over to his mother-in-law’s house with a box of chocolates to make a fulsome apology for the misunderstanding, which he was planning to try and blame on Eastern European immigrants.