Prime Minister Boris Johnson gets confused where he is during visit to Whitley Bay

Prime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons MediaPrime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons Media
Prime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons Media
The Prime Minister has come under fire after confusing Teesside with Tyneside after a day canvassing in the North East.

Hitting the campaign trail ahead of this Thursday’s local elections, Boris Johnson paid a visit to Whitley Bay seafront to meet residents and local businesses.

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But in a now deleted tweet, alongside a photograph of Whitley Bay, the Prime Minister said: “It was a fantastic day to be out campaigning in Teesside, where we’re delivering a massive programme of investment as part of our plan to level up the whole of the UK. Remember to vote Conservatives this Thursday for Conservative councillors who keep your council tax low."

A new post was uploaded shortly afterwards to say the “North East” instead of Teesside but the apparent mistake didn’t go unnoticed by rival MPs.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons MediaPrime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons Media
Prime Minister Boris Johnson canvassing in Whitley Bay. Picture by Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons Media

Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell tweeted: “The PM believes he was campaigning in Teesside. Actually he was in Whitley Bay North Tyneside. He doesn’t really care where he is or what he says. He doesn’t really care about who he meets or what they care about. Vote Labour on Thursday.”

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North Tyneside Labour tweeted: “It should come as absolutely no surprise that he has no idea where he is. His Conservative Government refused to place us in the top priority category for levelling up funds. Decided none of our towns needed money from the towns fund and cut £127million from our council budget.”

Referencing lyrics from the song Rotterdam, by the Beautiful South, Deputy Leader of the Labour party, Angela Rayner, tweeted: “It could be Whitley Bay or anywhere, Liverpool or Rome. It’s all ‘up north’ to them. The Tories haven’t got a clue.”

Pictures uploaded to the Conservative Party’s Flickr account also misspelt Whitley Bay as Whitely Bay.

The Prime Minister had ordered a “small chips” from the Whitley Whaler chip shop on his visit, before strolling along the promenade and enjoying an ice cream from Venetian.