Boris Johnson’s new campaign video, which references the Christmas staple Love Actually, has received a less-than-glowing review from one of the film’s original stars.
Unveiled on Monday night, the video – dubbed Vote Conservative Actually – shows Johnson recreating one of Love Actually’s most famous scenes, knocking on a potential voter’s door holding placards about the forthcoming election (and, because it’s Boris Johnson, “getting Brexit done”).
Hugh Grant played a fictional prime minister in Love Actually, and has now shared his take on the clip during an interview on BBC Radio 4.
“I thought it was quite well done, very high production values, but clearly the Conservative Party have an awful lot of money,” he began. “Maybe that’s where the rubles went.”
The actor quickly added: “I did notice that one of the cards from the original film that he didn’t hold up was the one where Andrew Lincoln held up a card saying, ‘Because at Christmas you tell the truth.’
“And I just wonder if the spin doctors in the Tory Party thought that was a card that wouldn’t look too great in Boris Johnson’s hands.”
During the current election campaign, Hugh has been among Boris Johnson’s most vocal high-profile critics, and has endorsed a “tactical” voting strategy that he hopes will keep the Conservatives out of power.
After hitting the campaign trail with Liberal Democrats candidate Luciana Berger last week, Hugh went on to accuse the party of misleading the public after they posted a tweet claiming they were the “only” party that can “take seats off the Tories” in the forthcoming election.
Meanwhile, Hugh isn’t the only one who’s been critical of the video, with Labour candidate Rosena Allin-Khan pointing out she uploaded a similar clip earlier in the campaign trail.