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Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, reportedly described UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a "f**king clown" in private WhatsApp texts, according to messages presented to the UK COVID inquiry on January 25, 2024.
The exchange with her chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, apparently occurred on October 31, 2020, criticizing the UK government's communication and expressing frustration with the prime minister's "utter incompetence." This was during the time when Boris Johnson had announced a second national lockdown, according to Sky News.
The candid exchange has ignited a storm of reactions from netizens across the political spectrum, setting social media ablaze. One netizen reacted by saying,
"Not going to lie; @NicolaSturgeon calling the bloated bloviator a "f**king clown" has just made my day. 👏👏😂😂😂"
Meanwhile, others apparently found her observations a "pretty accurate assessment."
Netizens react to Nicola Sturgeon describing Boris Johnson as a "clown" in WhatsApp messages
The revelation is part of ongoing scrutiny of messages exchanged by officials after the second pandemic announcement by the UK Government. Liz Lloyd apparently regretted not providing messages before September 1, 2020, citing difficulties in retaining them and uncertainty about whether they were intentionally deleted, as per Sky News. She said,
"I thought I had them. I have sourced them, and I have done everything that I am able to do as far as I can to find them. I thought I had retained them, and they're not there."
She further added,
"I can't say whether I actively deleted them. I can't say whether they got lost. I don't know."
However, Liz is reportedly due to present evidence on Thursday afternoon, January 25, 2024, of Nicola Sturgeon calling Boris Johnson a "f**king clown."
Scotland's correspondent for Channel4News, Kathryn Samson, shared an uncropped image of the candid conversation between Sturgeon and Lloyd.
In addition, X (formerly known as Twitter) has been flooded with diverse tweets, with many users agreeing with Sturgeon's sentiments. One said,
"Nicola is 100% correct in what she said. We were all thinking exactly the same thing."
As the news continues to circulate, it remains to be seen how this incident will impact the relationship between two prominent personalities, Sturgeon and Johnson, and the UK's political landscape.
More about Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson
Nicola Sturgeon, a member of the Scottish Parliament, is a renowned state politician. She served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023.
Born in Ayrshire in 1970, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow. In 1999, before her election to the Scottish Parliament, she served as a solicitor in Glasgow. As the SNP's shadow minister, she made remarkable contributions to the education, health, and justice departments.
Nicola Sturgeon became the first and only minister to serve a third term in the Government. However, on February 15, 2023, she resigned from the leadership of the SNP.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is a member of the Conservative Party and subsequently became Prime Minister on July 23, 2019, succeeding Theresa May. He had a prominent political career before taking the PM position and served as the Mayor of London from 2008 to 2016.
