Gordon's bigot gaffe: politicos and people react
Updated on 28 April 2010
As reaction to Gordon Brown's gaffe today reaches fever pitch online, Channel 4 News finds out what the politicos and the people really think.
Gordon Brown has been forced to apologise in person to Gillian Duffy, who he called a "bigoted woman" earlier today.
Labour spin doctors sought to play out the episode as an example of the prime minister's "tough" image, but could do little to halt the torrent of commentary that followed.
Peter Oborne, contributing editor to The Spectator and a columnist for the Daily Mail, told Channel 4 News: "I think it's the end of the Labour campaign."
Labour spin doctors have managed to make it look like Brown was being passionate and tough, he said. "But what the public has seen today is palpable insincerity, blaming of staff, and contempt for ordinary voters," he said.
More from Channel 4 News on Brown's 'bigot' remark
- Penitent sinner: Brown sorry for 'bigot remark
- When Gordon met Gillian: full transcript
- Brown’s 'bigot' mishap and other off-guard gaffes
- Gary Gibbon: amazing scenes at Gillian Duffy’s door
- Gary Gibbon: Brown’s Jekyll and Hyde moment
Columnist and former Today programme editor Rod Liddle told Channel 4 News: "I think it might be hard for Brown for a couple of days, but after that I think some people might even feel sorry for him. Oddly enough I think there will be sympathy for him.
"You tell me now that there is already sympathy for him on Twitter." However, Mr Liddle then dismisses Twitter users as irrelevant.
Mr Liddle added: "The woman seemed fundamentally decent. She was worried about immigration and aired her views - but was called a bigot.
"But there will also be some dislike from this for you [the media]."
Armando Iannucci, writer of the political TV satire The Thick Of It, "couldn't have made this up", Mr Liddle said.
Pointing to Labour's policy on immigration, Mr Oborne said: "David Blunkett once said that the UK had been 'swamped' by immigrants - but Brown didn't call him a bigot. Immigration is of genuine concern to many Labour voters, but Brown has shown how he feels about them in private."
The New Statesman said that Murdoch papers and the Tories are gleeful, but questioned if the gaffe would 'cut through' to the general public who do not 'obsess' so much.
Kevin Maguire, columnist for The Mirror, said that election blunders "don’t come much more spectacular".
Brushing off conspiracy theories that claim the gaffe was a Murdoch plot as "nonsense", Mr Maguire writes in his blog that it is simply "another sign of Labour's badly run campaign".
The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson was quoted by political blogger Guido Fawkes shortly after the event as saying: "For those of us that have known Gordon Brown for many years, what we have just seen is no huge surprise I have to say".
The episode makes the furore surrounding tomorrow night's final televised leaders' debate "a lot bigger", Mr Maguire said.
Gaby Hinsliff, former political editor of The Observer, agreed that the slip-up would loom large at the debate. "It is a disaster. There will be an effect on him in two ways.
"Firstly, it was the immigration question. Which means it will come up again now before the end of the campaign, and most certainly in the debate tomorrow," she told Channel 4.
"When it does Gordon is likely to panic and people will be reminded of what happened in Rochdale. It will also have an effect on him personally. He is not like Tony Blair - criticism used to bounce off him but Brown is prone to self-doubt.
"People may feel sorry for him - but it might actually be pity. And you don't want to pity your prime minister."
Tim Montgomerie, Editor of ConservativeHome.com and co-founder of the Centre for Social Justice, told Channel 4 News: "I think the main effect of this is the fact that immigration is top of the agenda again - and this is the second most important issue for voters, and it's one of Labour's weak points.
"The woman expressed her concern in a non-racist way about the level of immigration and she was called a bigot. Ordinary people now know what Gordon Brown thinks of their concerns on immigration."
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were quick to capitalise on the fallout.
William Hague said he had met lots of "well-informed fair-minded voters in Barrow-in-Furness switching from Labour. And not a bigot among them."
Lib Dem activist Elaine Bagshaw tweeted that a voter had called into the Sal Brinton campaign headquarters to pledge his vote as "Gordon clearly doesn’t respect his supporters".
However Brown's close ally, Unite political director Charlie Whelan, was keen to move past the gaffe, tweeting: "Not up on 'mikegate' yet out in Brum but calm down. Who has not let off steam under stress and strain of campaign. He's apologised move on."
An online vote for Channel 4 News revealed that Brown's unguarded remark made 24 per cent of readers less likely to vote Labour, while 76 per cent said it would not affect their voting intentions.
Twitter melted under the weight of too many tweets this afternoon, as the freshly coined hashtag #bigotgate took hold of the micro blogging site.
The site denied access to users with a notice that it was "over capacity" as the story went viral across the internet.
Once resumed, Twitter revealed that Gordon Brown's visit to Gillian Duffy's house this afternoon had been met with widespread disbelief in the blogosphere.
Tweeter linda_boucher branded the scenario a "cringefest", while Muradahmed said it was a "total car crash".
Meanwhile, crossy33 implored: "Please please please still be mic'd up".
Lord Mandelson however, cut through the quips with: Sky 'can have their microphone back'.
Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy was the first to break the story online, tweeting: "Gordon Brown forgets his radio mic is still on as he gets into car after confrontation with voter who he then describes as bigoted".
Before long, spoof Twitter accounts were set up to fuel the fire under the names @GillianTheBigot and @bigotedwoman. The latter tweeted: "a scotish man has arived at my house, he keeps doing a wierd thing with his tongue i think he is a immigrant" (sic).
