Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron and Michael Gove just got pranked

*Withheld number* — General Elections are pretty tedious, especially when the Conservative Party looks set for a landslide. Heydon Prowse decided to prank call some politicians because, well, why not?

Heydon Prowse, like quite a lot of people in the United Kingdom, is bored of this general election. One of the co-creators of the BAFTA award winning TV series The Revolution Will Be Televised, he’s no stranger to using comedy, stunts and pranks to make important political points. From Tony Blair to ISIS, David Cameron to Topshop, very few people have escaped the crosshairs.

But like most of us, Heydon and the team at Don’t Panic are feeling uninspired by the prospect of taking to the polls on 8 June. Theresa May’s Conservative campaign is refusing to offer up any policy whatsoever, her robotic repetition of “strong and stable” might be sticking to message but it’s dull at best.

Corbyn’s camp are firing off progressive commitments centre left and further leftwards, but if the polls are to be believed it’s looking almost impossible that he’ll make it into Number 10. The Liberal Democrats are also trying, but the only thing people want to talk about is how their leader Tim Farron probably thinks you’ll go to hell if you partake in gay sex.

“We wanted to prank call people as high up in the parties as possible to lighten the tone of this boring and depressing election,” he tells me. And that’s exactly what they did.

All three major parties got the prank-call treatment: Jeremy Corbyn, Michael Gove and Tim Farron have so far all got punk’d. “The Tories were hardest to get, we called up [Brexit Secretary] David Davis twice.” Heydon pretended to be Tom Hardy the first time, claiming he was about to be made the new James Bond.

“I said we wanted a Brexit Bond, no more Martinis only Boddingtons, not Aston Martins but Southern Rail.” It didn’t work, David Davis had never heard of A-list star, although he did later get duped into thinking he was having a chinwag with an Archbishop.

Jeremy Corbyn thought he was chatting to Stormzy, although

A dose of comic relief, the calls also appear to expose just how desperate the opposition parties are for support and attention, if anyone had bothered to check the phone numbers or with the agents of the impersonated celebrities it would have become pretty obvious rather quickly that these were a little bit suspect.

Either way their exploits are adding a bit of light relief to what’s a dull and bleak campaign, and Heydon promises there are plenty more pranks to come.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

 


Ad

Latest on Huck

Sport

From his skating past to sculpting present, Arran Gregory revels in the organic

Sensing Earth Space — Having risen to prominence as an affiliate of Wayward Gallery and Slam City Skates, the shredder turned artist creates unique, temporal pieces out of earthly materials. Dorrell Merritt caught up with him to find out more about his creative process.

Written by: Dorrell Merritt

Music

In Bristol, pub singers are keeping an age-old tradition alive

Ballads, backing tracks, beers — Bar closures, karaoke and jukeboxes have eroded a form of live music that was once an evening staple, but on the fringes of the southwest’s biggest city, a committed circuit remains.

Written by: Fred Dodgson

© Nan Goldin
Culture

This new photobook celebrates the long history of queer photography

Calling the Shots — Curated by Zorian Clayton, it features the work of several groundbreaking artists including Robert Mapplethorpe, Sunil Gupta, Zanele Muholi and more.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Music

Krept & Konan: “Being tough is indoctrinated into us”

Daddy Issues — In the latest from our interview column exploring fatherhood and masculinity, UK rap’s most successful double act reflect on loss, being vulnerable in their music, and how having a daughter has got Krept doing things he’d never have imagined.

Written by: Robert Kazandjian

© Sharon Smith
Culture

Vibrant polaroids of New York’s ’80s party scene

Camera Girl — After stumbling across a newspaper advert in 1980, Sharon Smith became one of the city’s most prolific nightlife photographers. Her new book revisits the array of stars and characters who frequented its most legendary clubs.

Written by: Miss Rosen

© Eric Rojas
Music

Bad Bunny: “People don’t know basic things about our country”

Reggaeton & Resistance — Topping the charts to kick off 2025, the Latin superstar is using his platform and music to spotlight the Puerto Rican cause on the global stage.

Written by: Catherine Jones

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to the new Huck Newsletter to get a personal take on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck.

Please wait...