Tory leader candidate Tom Tugendhat quotes Dumbledore during Channel 4 debate
The word ‘Dumbledore’ was soon trending on Twitter when the former military officer quoted JK Rowling’s character.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Conservative Party leader candidate Tom Tugendhat channelled his inner wizard and quoted Albus Dumbledore during Channel 4’s leadership debate.
The word “Dumbledore” was soon trending on Twitter when the former military officer quoted JK Rowling’s character from her beloved Harry Potter series after being asked by an audience member: “Why should the public trust you?”
Mr Tugendhat, 49, echoed Dumbledore’s sentiment when he told the debate: “It’s easy to stand up to your enemies – it’s sometimes harder to stand up to your friends.”
He spoke while acknowledging “trust in politics has been collapsing, trust in our party has been collapsing”, and added: “I’ve been holding a mirror to many of our actions and asking those in our party, those in our leadership positions, to ask themselves ‘is that what the public really expects?’
“Are you serving the people of the United Kingdom or are you serving your career? Because that’s the real question tonight.
“That’s the real question for all of us.”
Twitter users were quick to notice the similarity to Dumbledore’s famous quote, “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends”, before he awarded Neville Longbottom with 10 points for Gryffindor in Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.
“Is Tom Tugendhat a Harry Potter fan?” one person wrote.
“Don’t think any of us expected Tom Tugendhat to be straight out of the gate with a direct quote from Dumbledore,” another said.
Mr Tugendhat joined fellow Tory leadership contenders Kemi Badenoch, Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss at the debate on Friday, hosted by Krishan Guru-Murthy.