Change UK’s Joan Ryan takes cringe to unprecedented new levels with latest campaign gaffe

Joan Ryan
Joshua Funnell


They say politics is the art of communication. But if that’s the case, centrist party Change UK is failing.

In the latest episode of centrist cringe-gate, former Labour MP and vote of no-confidence loser Joan Ryan, gave David Brent a new lease of life with a failed attempt at a choreographed hand metaphor. And people were less than impressed.

Too good to be true

As The Canary recently reported, Change UK’s amateurish new logo, battle bus, and self-absorbed campaign literature have already provided plenty of fodder to laugh at. In short, its European election campaign is tanking. But the latest excruciating stunt might be the defining nail in its political coffin.

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Reports of Ryan’s antics started with a first-hand account by LBC’s political editor Theo Usherwood:

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At this point there was only one thing on everyone’s mind: please god tell us there’s video evidence? And yes, the media gods were good to us:

People found new meaning in Joan’s hands

On social media, Ryan’s hand job was the gift that kept on giving. And within her palms, people found all sorts of hidden meanings.

One person imagined the words of Ryan’s Change UK colleague Angela Smith:

Others used it as an opportunity to highlight Ryan’s voting record:

Fear not, Joan reassures us, “it was really funny”

However, according to Ryan, social media just failed to understand her great humour:

But predictably, that didn’t help matters either:

Even David Brent got in on the action:

And Young Labour’s international officer Marcus Barnett recalled an excuse Ryan had given for not calling a by-election when she quit Labour:

But there’s no doubt Ryan and co can look forward to seeing many more hands in the future, as we wave them off into the political wilderness.

Featured image via LBC

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