May was a month dominated by women, namely Angela Rayner, Penny Mordaunt and Kay Burley. Rayner had a terrible month when, following the local elections, Sir Keir tried sacking her in a botched coup, only to end up giving her multiple new jobs instead – a turn of events Boris mocked to great effect during the state opening debate. Co-conspirators also revelled in Penny Mordaunt’s mauling of Rayner at the dispatch box when she accused ministers of being on the take over PPE contracts – a clip that attracted over 100,000 views. Guido’s subsequent fact check of Penny’s statement also came in as the second most-read of the month.
Then there were those “baseless rumours” about Angie and long-time friend Sam Tarry…
It wasn’t just Rayner in the firing line, as Guido began a sustained investigation into the behaviour of Kay Burley ahead of her return to Sky News – after her lockdown-breaking birthday bay suspension last December. The investigation began when we spotted Kay and long-time friend Beth Rigby had seemingly had a major falling out, unfollowing each other on social media. It wasn’t long before a former producer came forward to accuse her of bullying and harassment, and other staff came forward to admit the “team are dreading her return”. A fellow presenter said she’s “a lunatic”…
Who can forget Boris’s great foreign policy victory just months after securing Britain’s future relationship with the EU?: victory at the Battle of Jersey. Following a row about fishing licences, tensions exploded between the UK and France, with the head of the joined Normandy-Brittany sea authority declaring they were “ready for war” and could “bring Jersey to its knees”. Macron sent a military boat only to be met by two Royal Navy vessels. Just a couple of days later Sir Winston Boris was able to flash the V for Victory sign…
The BBC had a pretty dire month: firstly they had to apologise to James Dyson for smearing him as a Tory who lobbied for tax advantages; then it came to light their Palestine specialist had professed “Hitler was right”. Naga Munchetty thankfully got things back on course after correctly informing viewers their ‘expert doctor’ interviewee was a Labour activist…
Honourable mentions:
Headline of the month: Zarah Sultana’s Socialist Love-In with Tiny Kox
