Paralympic athlete Jonnie Peacock is among several public figures who have called for her to be removed from the promotional video posted by Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt as she presented her candidacy for party leadership.
On Sunday morning, Portmouth North MP Mordaunt posted the video on her Twitter account titled “Our leadership needs to change. It needs to be a little less about the leader and a lot more about the boat.”
Peacock, 29, appeared in the original video crossing the finish line of a slow-motion race, his voice-over uttering the words, “We have to focus on who we are.” The clip also showed a photo of South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who was later convicted of the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Peacock, an English speed racer who won gold at the 2012 and 2016 summer Paralympic tournaments, responded to the video on Twitter, saying, “I officially ask to be removed from this video … anything less blue, please “.
At the time of writing, Peacock’s comment had received 12,800 likes, more than double the number received by Mordaunt’s tweet announcing his entry into the leadership career.
TV presenter Sue Perkins was one of the people who tweeted in response to the athlete, saying, “I can’t believe you weren’t even asked for your consent. Oh, wait…”
Later, on Sunday afternoon, an edited version was tweeted from Mordaunt’s account, with users quickly to highlight the changes.
Journalist Hugo Gye said: “It looks like Mordaunt has released a new version of his release video, which no longer includes @JonniePeacock (who complained about being included) or the convicted killer Oscar Pistorius.”
“Is it a new one without @JonniePeacock that asked you to delete it?” said another user.
There were other changes, including the video of an interview with Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, the British co-developer of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which was replaced by more generic images of healthcare staff.
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Mordaunt’s announcement continued to draw attention on social media throughout Sunday, and many compared the video to a clip of the BBC satire The Day Today, which uses the same background music.
She is one of nine candidates who have so far declared her candidacy for leadership following the resignation of Boris Johnson.