Boris Johnson’s bid to give his party an electoral boost ahead of a key by-election in North Shropshire hit a low note on Friday when he got the name of the Tory candidate wrong.
On a whistle-stop visit to Oswestry, the Prime Minister described Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst as a “fantastic” candidate, but failed to recall the name of the Conservative Party hopeful correctly.
“I think we’ve got a fantastic candidate, Dr Neil Shastri-Hughes, who I’ve just been seen contributing already to the life of the community by vaccinating people, he’s a doctor amongst his many other talents and what he’s also going to do is work very, very hard for the people of North Shropshire,” Mr Johnson said.
“I used to live in this constituency, I used to come shopping in Oswestry, so I know it a bit.
“And he’s got all the issues, he understands what needs to be done, to support the NHS to get investment into our hospitals here but also make sure we do things like, duelling the A5, looking at the Oswestry to Gobowen railway line, other projects like that, I think he’s a fantastic candidate.”
The Prime Minister later referred to the candidate as “Dr Neil” after he watched the medic give vaccinations to members of the public at a pharmacy in Oswestry. The candidate is a former British Army medical officer and honorary NHS consultant who now works as a barrister.
