Tory MP says Johnson was ‘ambushed with a cake’ on his birthday

Conor Burns’s attempt to defend the PM over No 10 parties inspires mirth on social media

A Conservative MP’s claim that Boris Johnson was “ambushed with a cake” at his birthday gathering held in Downing Street during lockdown has gone down a treat on social media after yet another day of high political drama.

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns, a long-standing ally of the prime minister, told Channel 4 News on Tuesday evening that the gathering was not a “premeditated” party and that Johnson was working in the room before staff came in and presented him with a birthday cake.

“It was not a premeditated, organised party,” he said. “He was, in a sense, ambushed with a cake.”

The MP for Bournemouth West added: “They came to his office with a cake, they sang happy birthday, he was there for 10 minutes – I don’t think most people looking at that at home would characterise that as a party.”

Social media erupted with mockery at Burns’ remarks. Nigella Lawson tweeted that the term “ambushed by cake” would make the perfect title for a recipe book.

In response, the minister said Lawson was more than welcome to use the name if she included his “Granny’s Christmas cake recipe”.

Lawson was unimpressed, responding: “This is too meta. Plus, you think it’s a joke? Says it all.”

Elsewhere on Twitter, people poked fun at Burns’ comments.

One user shared a 2011 video of former deputy prime minister John Prescott sticking his fingers in a BBC cake being offered to celebrate the first anniversary of the coalition government.

Another edited footage from the Jurassic Park film to show the game warden being ambushed by a birthday cake.

The historian Greg Jenner was poised with a series of cake puns featuring military figures ambushed by cake.

One person envisioned scenes from the Cabinet Office, which has played a pivotal role in the Metropolitan police’s decision to formally investigate alleged parties at Downing Street and Whitehall.

And the campaigner and food writer Jack Monroe shared a photo of a Peppa Pig cake, perhaps in reference to the PM’s infamous praise of Peppa Pig World.