‘Sails on the ship’ and ‘ashes of disaster’ – quotes of election night

It was a great night for those glued to their screens. An election result of this magnitude was bound to create memorable clips for people watching at home, and TV coverage of the 4 July poll certainly delivered.

From Wes Streeting wading into his own sea shanty to Jacob Rees-Mogg quoting Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, there were standout contributions throughout the night. Here are some of the most notable moments.

Metaphor blimey

Labour heavyweight Streeting launched into a nautical metaphor about his party’s performance on the BBC – and sailed into the distance with it. He probably could have stopped when he said “yes the implosion of the Conservatives and the SNP has put wind in Labour’s sails”. But, to the Ilford North MP’s credit, he kept going.

He added: “The only reason we’ve got sails on the ship and the ship is ship-shape is because Keir Starmer took the vessel from the shipwreck in 2019, rebuilt it and made it ship-shape and seaworthy again.” Move over, Ancient Mariner.

Bang goes Rees-Mogg

The defeat of Jacob Rees-Mogg in North East Somerset and Hanham was a symbolic moment. The leading Brexiter and Conservative party stalwart lost to Labour’s Dan Norris and was true to his caricature in his concession speech.

He rounded it off with a quote from Caractacus Potts, a character from Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Standing a few yards away from a candidate wearing a baked bean balaclava, he said: “From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success”.

Rough justice

The former Tory justice secretary Robert Buckland was in scathing form after losing his seat in Swindon, saying he was “fed up” with “personal agendas and jockeying for position” within his party. Channelling the Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges, he said the coming fight for the Tory leadership would be like “a group of bald men arguing over a comb”.

Buckland rounded it off by saying the party around him “can’t get its proverbial together”, adding that he wouldn’t use a four-letter word “even though we’re well after the watershed”.

Rory Chatbot, sorry, Stewart

Rory Stewart, the former Tory MP and highly popular podcaster, appeared to be using ChatGPT on live TV, according to a point-of-view shot from his chair in front of the cameras in Channel 4’s election coverage.

He posted on X a photo showing his open laptop with ChatGPT taking up the screen. Perhaps he was using the chatbot to write his quips?

When asked by a sharp-eyed X user why he was using ChatGPT – which, like all chatbots, can produce factual errors – rather than Google, Stewart simply replied: “Good spot.”

Kinnock kebabs Galloway

The former Labour leader Neil Kinnock was never shy when taking on the more extreme edges of the party in the 1980s and he was in similar form on election night with an excoriation of George Galloway. After being told that the ex-Labour MP and Workers Party leader had lost his Rochdale seat to Labour, Kinnock did not hold back.

“Galloway is repulsive. He always has been,” he said. “I’ve known him since 1983 and he is repellent.” Kinnock came back for more, rounding it off by describing Galloway as “such a chancer” and “so superficial”.

Sky’s the limit for Burnham

It wasn’t quite Jeff Stelling levels of excitement but there were shades of Soccer Saturday when footage emerged of the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, being shown the exit poll for the first time on Sky News.

“Oh my God” said Burnham, a lifelong Everton fan, as he raised both arms in the air. The face of the former leader of the Scottish Tories Ruth Davidson, who was sitting next to him, had the expression of someone whose team had taken a hammering.

Dorries makes soup of Campbell

Two of the bigger personalities in British politics, Alastair Campbell and Nadine Dorries, clashed sharply on Channel 4’s election show. Campbell, Tony Blair’s former comms chief, told Dorries: “You’ve got to get over Boris Johnson.”

Dorries, who was the culture secretary under Boris Johnson’s reign and is an unabashed fan of the ex-PM, said that was “quite a sexist comment”, prompting Campbell to reply “no it’s not” and Dorries to retort with “I think it is, Alastair”. “It really isn’t,” Campbell insisted, before finishing his point that Sunak had made a major misstep in wheeling out Johnson two days before polling day.

Dorries hit back, saying: “I think that’s the reason why we’ve got 131 and not 50 [seats],” referring to the exit poll predictions.