A woman’s clueless but hilarious response to Boris Johnson‘s resignation yesterday has got people calling for her to become the new Prime Minister.
In case you somehow managed to miss it, Boris Johnson addressed the nation yesterday to formally resign as the leader of the Conservative party and agree to step down as Prime Minister following a tidal wave of 59 resignations by ministers, MPs, and other government officials – including Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid.
Johnson had been increasing pressure to step down from his position in recent weeks amid several scandals, from Partygate to Pincher.
The Prime Minister said his resignation speech: “I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world – but them’s the breaks.”
He also assured people that “our future together is golden”.
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As is often the case in the aftermath of significant political bombshells such as this, news reporters grabbed their cameras and headed out onto the streets across the country to ask people for their take on what went down – and one woman’s response in a now-viral video on social media has left some feeling that she should throw her hat into the ring to take over as the country’s next leader.
Speaking to the BBC in Darlington, the clueless woman said that she wasn’t even aware Johnson had decided to step down from his, but she was pretty pleased about it.
“I didn’t even know he’s resigned,” she exclaimed. “I’ve just finished work so, well that’s a bit of good news, I suppose, isn’t it?”.
It wasn’t a very long response, but it was all she needed to go viral.
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Shortly after her interview was aired on television, the clip was shared to Twitter and it has since gone on to amass over three million views and counting, as well as tens of thousands of retweets, likes, and of course, comments from people hailing her as an “icon”.
“Get her in Number 10 now,” one Twitter user said.
Heaping praise on the unnamed woman, another Twitter user commented: “Iconic queen.”
“New queen just dropped,” wrote a third, with another adding: “She’s an icon, she’s a legend and she IS the moment.”
Another commented: “Bless her heart. Protect her at all costs.”
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Presumably having got wind that she was going viral on social media, the woman in the video identified herself on Twitter as Erin Mae Denny with the brilliant and appropriate response of “look mum, I’m on TV”.
Her Twitter response has also gone viral, with plenty of people calling her a ‘legend”, sending her praise, and describing it as: “Genuinely the greatest vox pop ever featured on national television”
“You can’t get a more British reaction to a massive piece of news than this, absolutely perfect,” another added.
“To any non brits here, this is what we call a masterclass in great British understatement.”
Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
Featured Images — Charles Bowring (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
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‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Emily Sergeant -
8th July 2022 
