Actor and comedian Steve Coogan joined a Channel 4 News panel to speak about the election tomorrow. Mr Coogan has always been an outspoken and ardent Remainer and Labour supporter. However, during the interview, his fellow guests called him out for his “stomach-churning” views about Brexiteers.

Host Cathy Newman asked the actor what his alter ego, Alan Partridge, would make of the election.

Mr Coogan said: “Alan Partridge is ill-informed and ignorant, therefore he is a Conservative and a Brexiteer.

“The reason the Tories don’t invest as much money in education is because they depend on a certain level of ignorance for their support.”

Former Special Advisor to Theresa May, James Johnson did not find the comment funny and hit back at the celebrity.

He said: “I don’t want to cause a fight with Steve Coogan.

“This is exactly the attitude that means these long-term Labour voters, who are good people, are leaving the Labour Party and going to the Conservatives.

“People like Steve and people in the Twitter bubble and London bubble are calling them stupid.”

Ms Newman also added: “Celebrities patronising people and telling them to vote is a little bit stomach-churning, isn’t it?”

The actor tried to defend himself: “Well, I could say nothing, but the fact is if you make a difference or you can say anything that will help influence the election, I think you’re honour bound to do that.

“As we’ve seen, plenty of Tories are deserting the Tory party at the moment because it’s a party they don’t recognise.”

British actor Hugh Grant has also been vocal this election, campaigning with both Liberal Democrats and Labour, as well as encouraging people to vote tactically.

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Mr Johnson offered more insight into why traditional Labour voters seem to be jumping ship to the Conservative Party.

He said: “We’ve got to remember that there are lots of Leave voters out there, who used to vote Labour, who now do not feel they could not vote for Jeremy Corbyn or the Labour Party because they feel like it’s left them behind.

“We did focus groups with Channel 4 News, I conducted them.

“These voters were instinctively Labour on the NHS, but looked at Jeremy Corbyn and felt that they had abandoned them.

“I’m afraid, people on Twitter, people backing a second referendum or backing Remain, often forget that there are these voters who feel like they’ve been ignored by the Labour Party.”

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