“Robert Peston, where are you?” Angela Eagle faces awkward silence during press conference
The Labour leadership hopeful lost out to Andrea Leadsom in the battle for coverage
Published:
Angela Eagle formally launched her leadership challenge to Jeremy Corbyn today but there was a snag…
The former Shadow Business Secretary’s announcement came at the worst possible time, clashing with Andrea Leadsom’s last-minute press conference to announce her departure from the Tory party’s leadership race.
Guess which event everyone chose to cover?
Meanwhile over at Angela Eagle’s #LabourLeadership launch… pic.twitter.com/FCRuNyUh0J
— Conor McNally (@conor_mcnally) July 11, 2016
Undeterred, Eagle tried to answer questions from the audience but was met with an excruciating silence, captured in a video that has since gone viral.
She then starts calling out journalists by name – “Robert Peston, where are you?” Silence. “Michael Crick?” Nothing.
Peston later tweeted Eagle, explaining his absence.
.@angelaeagle very sorry to run away from your launch. You will understand why. Don't think it was @andrealeadsom deliberately upstaging you
— Robert Peston (@Peston) July 11, 2016
Awkward.
