MP answers 100 daft questions

Ross Noble fans have deluged Labour’s ‘Twitter tsar’ with scores of stupid questions as part of his ‘Twitterbombard’ campaign.

The comic said ‘fair play’ to Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy after she answered more than 100 daft questions between meetings and Commons sessions.

Noble started the ball rolling by asking: ‘Do you think Billy Ocean will make any difference to your chances on election day?’

McCarthy wondered: ‘Am I taking part in an “ask Kerry silly questions contest and no one’s told me?’ But she soon figured out what was going on and replied: ‘As the godlike Billy once said "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going", an inspiring message for Labour activists.’

And later she Tweeted: ‘Have persuaded Alastair to present [pre-budget report] Billy Ocean style. Speech to open with "I've got something to tell u, I've got something to say. Labour backbenchers will then join in with “Darling, he'll climb any mountain…”’

One Twitter user asked her: ‘Where do you stand with regards to using armadillo shells as both a fashion accessory and a safety head-gear?’ She replied: ‘I frequently dress up as the Holiday Armadillo around this time of year.’

Another asked if she would wear a gorilla suit to Parliament, and she replied: ‘I don’t think it’s expressly forbidden. I could give it a try?’

And challenged to start a Mexican wave in the House of Commons, she said: ‘We do it on the Labour benches when Nick Clegg is speaking.’

In response to one question about Labour internet strategy, she said: ‘Me devoting half an hour of my time to answering idiotic questions is an essential part of our strategy.’

On her blog, McCarthy wrote later: ‘When the Ross Noble questions started coming in, I was at a breakfast meeting near Victoria.

‘I walked back down Victoria Street flicking through the tweets on my Blackberry, laughing out loud at at some of them, and formulating answers to questions like "What is it that Meatloaf would not do for love?' (give up burgers? go to the gym?) and one about shooting peasants/ pheasants which would have given me an ideal opportunity for a Cameron shoots peasants gag.

‘But by the time I finally got in front of a computer those tweets had evaporated into the Twittersphere and hundreds more had arrived. Apparently I answered 100 of them.

‘I am still trying to work out whether Ross Noble's first question, was inspired because he knew of my longstanding obsession with Billy O (which, I would maintain is entirely consistent with my longstanding obsession with Joy Division and all things miserable and Mancunian) or whether it was entirely random. I've twit-picced him a copy of my Billy Ocean mug, but no response.’

Noble has previously targetted Doritos and Nutrigrain in his Twitter bombardment campaigns.

Published: 10 Dec 2009