Joe Lycett hailed as ‘genius’ after appearing on BBC politics show as ‘right-wing’ Tory supporter

Joe Lycett has left TV viewers in hysterics by claiming to be a “right-wing” Tory supporter while discussing politics on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

The comedian was on the latest episode of the BBC series (4 September) alongside former No 10 staffer Cleo Watson and Labour’s Emily Thornberry, and watched on as Kuenssberg interviewed Boris Johnson’s potential prime minister replacement, Liz Truss, live in the studio.

After Kuenssberg’s interview with Truss came to an end, Lycett could be heard cheering off-screen, shouting: “You smashed it, Liz!”

Lycett then proceeded to sarcastically share his candid thoughts about Truss and the Tory government, but joked they were not his own sentiments as he is “extremely right-wing”.

When asked what his “honest” thoughts were on Truss’s interview, he replied: “You said earlier I’m not left or right. I know there’s been criticism in the The Mail on Sunday today about leftie liberal wokie comedians on the BBC. I’m actually very right-wing and I love it. I thought she gave great clear answers. I know exactly what she’s up to.”

Here, Kuenssberg interjected: “It’s a serious point, Joe. Forgive me. It’s a serious point.”

“I’m not being sarcastic,” Lycett said.

Kuenssberg continued, addressing Truss’s response to rising energy costs in the UK: “She said that there was a big package of help coming this week for people to help pay their bills.”

Lycett replied: “Yeah, she was very clear what she said. I think you know exactly what's going to happen. I’m reassured, you’re reassured.”

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He then turned to Thornberry, who was stifling laughter, and asked: “Are you reassured?”

Kuenssberg said: “Emily Thornberry, you’re smirking over there in the corner.”

Later in the episode, when Kuenssberg highlighted a news report claiming that Truss is a “stronger” candidate “than you think”, Lycett said: “I think the haters will say we've had 12 years of the Tories, and that we're sort of at the dregs of what they've got available, and that Liz Truss is sort of like the backwash of the available MPs. I wouldn’t say that, because I’m incredibly right-wing, but some people might say that.”

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Kuenssberg then stated that “consensus in politics is often wrong and we don’t know what is going to pan out”, to which Lycett replied: “Yeah, well, as Liz said there... it would be wrong to predict the future, even though loads of people have predicted we're going to have real issues with paying energy bills.

“I think she’s right to say, basically, let’s not predict, let’s just see what happens next week. I think she did the right thing there.”

On Monday (5 September), Lycett told Times Radio that Truss had “a face like a slapped arse” after the segment.

Many are praising Lycett for the appearance, with some calling him a “genius”.

“Kuenssberg not having a clue how to handle the situation because he’s technically not saying anything she can editorially disagree with is just superb,” one viewer said, with another calling his appearance “genius”.

Ahead of his appearance, Lycett told his Twitter followers: “Really excited to be on this new version of Would I Lie To You.” Then, shortly after the episode ended, he quipped: “If you want to hear more of my right-wing opinions, I’m on tour.”

After learning that his stunt had made Monday (5 September) morning’s Daily Mail, the comedian joked that he would be getting the newspaper framed.

You can read more of Lycett’s biggest political pranks here.

In January, he revealed that his joke version of Sue Gray’s findings on the Downing Street parties, which allegedly occurred during Covid-19 lockdown, were read out as a “serious report” in government.

The comedian discovered the news from someone he said was a “verified” employee of a Conservative cabinet minister.

Truss has since been voted in as the UK’s new prime minister.