How Carol Vorderman has posted string of anti-Tory rants on social media: From a public spat with veterans minister Johnny Mercer and his wife to posts branding the government ‘greedy, gaslighting crooks’, and feud with Michelle Mone
Carol Vorderman has quit her weekly BBC Radio Wales show – declaring she would not be ‘silenced’ by the corporation’s social media guidelines.
The 62-year-old former Countdown star has become well known for her anti-Tory rants on Twitter and Instagram, and recently called the government ‘greedy, gaslighting crooks’.
Particularly notable has been a spat with veterans minister Johnny Mercer and his wife Felicity, who celebrated today by tweeting: ‘Binned by the BBC’.
She has also been locked in a longrunning feud with her former friend, the Conservative peer Michelle Mone.
In a statement released today, Ms Vorderman said: ‘The BBC recently introduced new social media guidelines, which I respect.
‘However, despite my show being light-hearted with no political content, it was explained to me that, as it is a weekly show in my name, the new guidelines would apply to all and any content that I post all year round.
Carol Vorderman has become well known for her anti-Tory rants on Twitter and Instagram, and called the government ‘greedy, gaslighting crooks’
She has accused the Government of being ‘a lying bunch of greedy, corrupt, destructive, hateful, divisive, gaslighting crooks’
More recently she been engaged in a bitter Twitter feud with Tory MP and veteran’s affairs minister Johnny Mercer and his wife Felicity
‘Since those non-negotiable changes to my radio contract were made, I’ve ultimately found that I’m not prepared to lose my voice on social media, change who I am, or lose the ability to express the strong beliefs I hold about the political turmoil this country finds itself in.
READ MORE – Carol Vorderman says she’ll keep on picking rows with the Government even if it costs her TV jobs
‘My decision has been to continue to criticise the current UK Government for what it has done to the country which I love – and I’m not prepared to stop. I was brought up to fight for what I believe in, and I will carry on.
‘Consequently I have now breached the new guidelines and BBC Wales management have decided I must leave. We each must make our decisions.
‘I’m sad to have to leave the wonderful friends I’ve made at Radio Wales. I wish them, and all of our listeners, all the love in the world. We laughed a lot, and we will miss each other dearly
‘But, for now, another interesting chapter begins.’
Under the BBC’s new social media guidelines, presenters on flagship programmes including Match Of The Day (MOTD) and The Apprentice have been banned from making attacks on political parties.
The corporation said the guidance does not include contributors, pundits, judges or guest hosts but it has put through additional guidance for freelancers along with those not working in news, current affairs or factual journalism production.
Particularly notable has been a spat with veterans minister Johnny Mercer and his wife Felicity, who celebrated today by tweeting: ‘Binned by the BBC’
Ms Vorderman was accused of being an ‘education snob’ when she tweeted gleefully earlier this month at the prospect of MP Johnny Mercer losing his seat in next year’s general election
In September, the broadcaster said these type of employees ‘must not bring the BBC into disrepute’, are required to be respectful in public, and take care when engaging with public debate.
The new guidelines followed a row over MOTD presenter Gary Lineker comparing the language used by the Conservative Government to promote its asylum plans to 1930s Germany on X, which led to him briefly not presenting the show, a boycott by sports staff and a social media review.
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This month, Ms Vorderman has questioned if the Conservative Party is the ‘sleaziest in history’ and wrote on Twitter that the public is ‘ashamed’ about the Home Secretary’s recent remarks about homelessness.
Suella Braverman claimed on the social media platform that rough sleeping is sometimes a ‘lifestyle choice’ and called for and end to ‘pitching tents in public spaces’.
Ms Vorderman quoted her post, saying: ‘What I want to stop, and what the law-abiding majority wants to stop, is your vile government clinging on to power for a day longer.
‘You don’t speak for us. Every week you debase democracy further. We’re ashamed of you. Go now.’
In August, the presenter mocked Penny Mordaunt’s call to bring back national service.
She wrote: ‘Bring Back National Service’ cries Penny Mordaunt. What a pile of utter nonsense. She also spouts that Tories alone believe in personal responsibility and looking after others. WOW! Current Tories care only about themselves and their snouts in the troughs of power and money. FACT’
And in June 2023 she tweeted: ‘The Tory Gov has now lost around half of those who voted for them in 2019. Why? Cos they’re a lying bunch of greedy, corrupt, destructive, hateful, divisive, gaslighting crooks. No need for a focus group Sunak….it’ll just tell you the same…’
Former friends: Carol Vorderman (left) and Baroness Mone in 2010 at the launch party of The Sun’s new magazine, The Buzz
The presenter has also been outspoken about the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and claimed ‘While people died, NHS was on its knees & money was funnelled to the VIP Lane.’
READ MORE – Carol Vorderman v Michelle Mone: Inside Britain’s bitterest celebrity feud
The ‘VIP lane’ refers to some coronavirus-related contracts which were fast-tracked when the Government was struggling to buy protective equipment during the pandemic.
Ms Vorderman has also posted a number of critical remarks about Johnny Mercer’s performance as veterans’ affairs minister.
The pair have had several public arguments and he has referred to her on X as a ‘deeply unpleasant person’.
In March, Ms Vorderman called on women’s minister Maria Caulfield to resign after she claimed she could not ‘be bothered to turn up’ to a committee hearing about the menopause.
In September, she is said to have deleted a number of posts about Conservative chairman Greg Hands.
Mr Hands had called on her to apologise for what he called ‘defamatory and damaging’ tweets about his involvement in a lifestyle firm being awarded a £25.8 million personal protective equipment contract in 2020.
The presenter said she was ‘not prepared to stop’ venting her ‘strong beliefs’ on Twitter and Instagram
Writing on Twitter, Ms Vorderman said she was ‘happy to accept Mr Hands’ assurance that his role in the process was simply to refer the approach… (and) there was no impropriety on his part’.
However, when Michael Gove was education secretary more than a decade ago, Ms Vorderman was announced as the head of a maths taskforce.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘Carol has been a presenter on BBC Radio Wales since 2018. We’d like to thank her for her work and contribution to the station over the past five years.’
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