Rishi Sunak Gets A Geography Lesson After Making Unfortunate Social Media Blunder
PM Rishi Sunak speaks during a 'PM Connect' event at the Currys Repair Centre in Coddington, eastern England on October 9, 2023.
Rishi Sunak marked his visit to a Currys distribution centre with a social media post on Monday – only to make a rather unfortunate error in his caption.
The prime minister made the surprising decision to go to the East Midlands this week, in a visit which coincided with Labour’s party conference in Liverpool.
Normally, the main political parties try not to attract too much attention when their rivals are holding their annual conference.
But, Sunak broke this informal tradition to speak to staff at Currys’ national distribution centre this week – and then celebrated the occasion on social media.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the PM wrote: “Enjoyed chatting with @currys staff in Nottingham about the long-term decisions I’m taking to build a brighter future.
“From investing in hundreds of transport projects across the North and Midlands to reaching Net Zero in a pragmatic way, I’m determined to change our country.”
Enjoyed chatting with @currys staff in Nottingham about the long-term decisions I'm taking to build a brighter future.
From investing in hundreds of transport projects across the North and Midlands to reaching Net Zero in a pragmatic way, I'm determined to change our country. pic.twitter.com/6tGgWe97sS— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 9, 2023
However, according to No.10′s Flickr account, he was actually in... Newark, around 20 miles away from Nottingham.
Newark is a market town and civil parish in the county of Nottinghamshire, while Nottingham is a city within Nottinghamshire.
Even the community notes – added by other users – on his X post read: ”Sunak did not visit Nottingham, he went to Coddington.”
Although, it’s worth noting that Coddington is a village three miles away from Newark, but falls in the district council of Newark and Sherwood.
Currys also reposted Sunak’s post, and seemed to correct him by clarifying that he held an “open forum with our colleagues yesterday in Newark, the home of our industry-leading Repair Centre”.
An honour to give @RishiSunak an open forum with our colleagues yesterday in Newark, the home of our industry-leading Repair Centre.
Massive well done to all involved, especially our technicians who showed the PM how we give tech a longer life through cutting-edge repairs. https://t.co/AzGtIK4shR— Currys plc (@currysplc) October 10, 2023
And X users obviously had a ball....
It may only have been moments away by helicopter, but Rishi Sunak was NOT in Nottingham. He was in a Currys establishment in Newark, some 38 minutes' drive away.
Why does he feel the need to lie about trivial stuff like this? Or does he really think they're the same place? https://t.co/3tQYuFJXBtpic.twitter.com/1ZFrHvl9Iu— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) October 10, 2023
Think you were actually in Newark @RishiSunak - same county though 😉 https://t.co/izNF9UZgHt
— NottinghamshireLive (@nottslive) October 9, 2023
This was actually 25 miles away from Nottingham. Sunak could do with going back to school and learning some geography. https://t.co/L0nVPc4oq9
— Freddie (@FreddieBailey96) October 9, 2023
Not only did he look like he was doing a bad impression of River Dance, he didn't even know where he was. He wasn't in Nottingham, he was in Coddington. It's in Notts, but closer to Newark than Nottingham itself! https://t.co/MmXng4vC9J
— David Noble 🏴 (@DavidPNoble63) October 10, 2023
#AccidentalPartridgehttps://t.co/22Td6o2NGE
— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) October 9, 2023
This was in Coddington, not Nottingham https://t.co/VBPD3g1U9v
— Hugh Casswell (@HughCasswell) October 9, 2023
You chatted to Currys staff in my home town of Newark, not Nottingham.
But at least you got ‘Midlands’ correct https://t.co/P4uMKQ9N9Z— Benjamin Lynch (@ben_lynch99) October 9, 2023
I know you don’t get up north much Mr Sunak, but this Curry’s is reported as Newark.
Not Nottingham. https://t.co/IgpTjfeCVt— ☘️ColleenAvril☘️🇪🇺💙 (@ColleenAvril) October 9, 2023
Rishi had a lovely time chatting to Curry’s staff in Nottingham…
Even though he was actually three quarters of an hour away in Coddington. https://t.co/9KEsEet7Rb— LGBWithTheT (@LGBwiththeT) October 10, 2023
That wasn’t the only geographical blunder he made during the trip either.
Speaking about how it was beneficial to scrap HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, the PM said: “Instead of all this money being gobbled up by one big rail project, we’re able to spend it improving our roads across the country, here in the West Midlands.”
He was actually in the East Midlands.