LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Tuesday ridiculed online after announcing he had joined social media platform TikTok.
The PM’s video appeared as the first clip on the new @10downingstreet account, amassing more than 500,000 views and tens of thousands of followers within hours.
Follow us on @tiktok_uk for behind-the-scenes access and to see how we are delivering on our agenda of uniting and levelling up our country.https://t.co/JairuywXmC pic.twitter.com/3NriufVejb
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) May 10, 2022
In the announcement, Johnson told viewers that they would be unlikely to see him dancing on the video-focused service, but the account would give the public “behind-the-scenes” insights into the inner workings of Downing Street.
“You won’t necessarily catch me dancing on this site, but you will have all sorts of stuff about what we’re doing to deliver on our priorities, deliver for you on our agenda of uniting and levelling up our country,” he said.
People immediately took to TikTok and Twitter to poke fun at the premier’s announcement, while others called for him to quit.
One TikTok user said: “Boris, can you do a hairstyle tutorial please?” Another said: “Country going into recession, so the government made a TikTok to help us.” And another said: “Cheers, Boris, nan’s doing cartwheels to keep warm.”
One user even took the prime minister’s refusal to dance as a challenge, putting together a video showing Johnson dancing while holding a beer.
On Twitter, one user said, “Boris Johnson isn’t going to last two minutes on TikTok,” while another wrote, “can Boris Johnson get off TikTok please?”
can boris johnson get off tiktok pls
— evan (@fourdoubloons) May 11, 2022
Boris Johnson isn’t going to last two minutes on TikTok https://t.co/tRViEQfaxv
— Hannah (@orangarnold) May 11, 2022
