Author Isabel Oakeshott left Jeremy Corbyn supporters aghast on Friday night after labelling the Labour leader a “clown” and “unelectable” following his party’s surge in support at the General Election.
The commentator, appearing on BBC Question Time, infuriated Corbyn fans by saying that the Labour leader had no right to make an offer to lead the country after Thursday’s hung parliament.
Later her criticism became more pointed as she talked about why Labour had gained ground with voters - Oakeshott said it had very little to do with Corbyn and a lot to do with Theresa May.
“Where I think Jeremy Corbyn did resonate with voters is in authenticity and I think one of the problems with Theresa May’s campaign is she came across as very robotic and quite frankly if you behave like a robot then the voters are going to vote for a clown instead.”
Baroness Shami Chakrabarti tried to stop Oakeshott from continuing, complaining that her commentary was “boring”, but the author continued:
“And let’s be honest.. Corbyn failed last night and we shouldn’t get carried away and you know what a lot of Tories will be very happy if he stays on for another five years because he will fail again, he is unelectable.”
The crowd applauded her comments, but fans of Corbyn later savaged Oakeshott on Twitter calling her the “rudest” person they had ever seen on TV.
As usual, much of the commentary also focused on claims the BBC audience was ‘bias’ against Corbyn.
Not all of the criticism bothered Oakeshott. Some of it actually made her laugh.
Oakeshott was, however, applauded for highlighting the “cynical” Remain plot claiming the election was about Brexit.
She made clear to the audience that both Labour and the Conservatives had backed leaving the European Union in their manifestos.