Jon Sopel has been left red-faced after Tory MPs corrected him over an attack on Rishi Sunak.
The former BBC journalist incorrectly claimed the Conservatives have a majority in the House of Lords as he lashed out at the PM for blaming Labour peers for delays with the Rwanda Bill.
Mr Sopel, who now co-hosts The News Agents podcast, said on X: “Given Tory majority in House of Lords bit rich for Rishi Sunak to blame Labour for delays to the Rwanda Bill.
“It’s because so many on his own side and crossbenchers reject the legislation.”
But Tory MPs and other social media users were quick to point out that the party does not have a majority in the unelected chamber.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Jon, please explain, using numbers, why you think the Conservatives have a majority in the House of Lords.”
Home Office minister Chris Philp added: “The Conservatives do not have a majority in the Lords, Jon.”
Tory MP Fay Jones wrote: “Ummm. Who wants to tell him?”
Chris Clarkson, who represents Heywood and Middleton, and Torbay’s Kevin Foster were among other Conservative MPs who highlighted the mistake.
The Conservative Post said: “If you tot up all the left-leaning Lords from left-leaning parties there are actually in fact way more of them!”
The Tories have 278 out of a total of 789 peers in the House of Lords.
There are 172 Labour peers, 182 crossbenchers, 80 Lib Dems, 37 non-affiliated, 25 bishops and more than a dozen from other parties.
Mr Sopel’s attack on Mr Sunak comes after he gave a Downing Street press conference on his Rwanda Bill this morning.
The PM said MPs and peers would sit through the night if necessary to get the legislation through Parliament.
