Vince Cable appeared to suffer from some performance anxiety on Tuesday when he fluffed the racy joke he’d planned in his speech to the Lib Dem conference.
The Lib Dem leader successfully won headlines this morning after pre-released extracts of his speech said he would mock Brexiteers for having an “erotic spasm” over leaving the EU.
But when it came to the big moment, Cable instead told party members the likes of Boris Johnson had experienced an “exotic spresm”.
Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, who stepped down after the 2017 snap election, jumped immediately on the stumble.
Everyone’s favourite People’s Vote-backing football pundit also joined in.
Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem deputy leader, told the BBC’s Politics Live programme that she was “not sure they are words I would personally choose” when asked about the “erotic spasm” pre-release.
Journalists watching the speech live could not believe their ears – or luck.