Johnny Mercer’s wife says Carol Vorderman ‘inciting hate’ towards Tories

Johnny Mercer’s wife says Carol Vorderman ‘inciting hate’ towards Tories.

Carol Vorderman has been accused of “inciting people to hate all Tories” by a Conservative minister’s wife.

Felicity Cornelius-Mercer, whose husband Johnny Mercer is responsible for veterans’ affairs, claimed the former Countdown presenter was a “celebrity attack dog”.

Vorderman has previously referred to Conservative MPs as “disgraceful” and told the party’s deputy chairman Lee Anderson to “get a grip” in a Twitter spat earlier this year.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by the broadcaster Rachel Johnson, Ms Cornelius-Mercer said about Vorderman: “She just drives me up the f—ing wall.

“For me, it’s this idea of these celebrity attack dogs that know nothing about politics. “Everyone who’s my age thinks the same way,” Clarkson added.

Now, several prominent figures – from comedians Kathy Burke and John Bishop to Countdown star Carol Vorderman – have criticised Clarkson’s comments.

Bishop tweeted that the remarks were a “blatant appeal to incite humiliation and violence on a woman”.

He added: “Some have excused it as dark humour. There is no joke here Jeremy Clarkson, and no excuse.”

Vorderman’s Twitter comment began: “NO Jeremy Clarkson. Not on any level, in any circumstance, is it OK to write this stuff about any woman and absolutely NO to ‘everyone who’s my age thinks the same’.”