Tory MP Penny Mordaunt said 'c**k' several times in Parliament speech as part of Navy dare

A Tory MP has revealed she delivered a speech on poultry welfare to Parliament for the sole purpose of saying “c**k” several times after her Royal Navy colleagues presented her with a puerile forfeit for a “misdemeanour” during training.

Penny Mordaunt, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth North, delivered a commons speech laced with innuendo, in which she used the word “c**k” six times and “lay” or “laid” five times during the course of her speech, in which she also had to utter the names of several Navy officers, the the Mail on Sunday reported.

Ms Mordaunt admitted her guilt to a roomful of journalists as she picked up the award for speech of the year at The Spectator magazine’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards last week.

The MP said she felt “a bit of a fraud” for receiving the award because, “let’s face it, the reason I won this award is not because of the hours I put in or the carefully crafted speech, it’s because I referred to male genitalia during the course of it,” she said.

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“When I was at Dartmouth doing my reservist training some of my marine training officers thought it would be a good idea to try and break the ladylike persona that I maintained throughout the whole of my course by getting me to yell particular rude words during the most gruelling part of our training, and I’m happy to say that they failed in that.

"But during our mess dinner at the end of the course I was fined for a misdemeanour, and the fine was to say a particular word, the abbreviation of cockerel, several times during a speech on the floor of the House of Commons and mention all of the officer’s names present.”

Ms Mordaunt then directed those interested to Hansard, the official report of all Commons debates, “where you can scroll down the usual list of topics that I talk about – the UK’s place in the world, why we need carrier strike force, the deterrent renewal,” and find her debate on poultry welfare, which she admitted was unusual “for someone representing an urban seat”.

The Mail on Sunday reported that in the speech in question, Ms Mordaunt, who is also a Royal Navy reservist, used the word “c**k” six times and “lay” or “laid” five times during the course of the speech.

In part of her speech, she said: “The cause of hen and cock welfare is one raised with me by many constituents.”

She then went on: “In 'The Good Life' idyll one imagines several hens and a single proud cockerel, but one strutting coxcomb will lead to many chicks and what is to become of the male contingent with not a layer among them? I encourage people to consider homes for hens, but to think carefully about a coop for a cockerel.”

She finally concluded: “When we eventually head into spring, let us have no cock-ups on hen welfare.”

Ms Mordaunt was accused by Labour MP Kate Hoey of trivialising Parliament.

“'She should realise that the House of Commons is not a TV reality show. The public expects debates in the Chamber to be on matters of serious concern,” Ms Hoey told The Mail on Sunday.

“It is sad that she has misused it in this way - it sets a bad precedent.”

Ms Mordaunt told the Mail on Sunday: "If I have offended anyone I'm sorry. Feel free to beat me up over it."

Additional reporting by PA