Dec 11, 2019 - World

Boris Johnson accused of hiding in refrigerator to avoid TV interview

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused of hiding in a refrigerator to avoid a live television interview on Wednesday, the final day of campaigning before the country's general election.

What happened: Johnson was approached by a reporter for "Good Morning Britain" while visiting Modern Milkman, a local business in Yorkshire, who asked to speak to him on live television, setting off a confrontation, per The Guardian.

  • Johnson's aide appeared to respond with an expletive.
  • The camera cut to the show's hosts, Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, who were stunned in the studio.
  • Johnson continued to ignore the reporter — before telling him, "I'll be with you in a second" — and then walked into the dairy refrigerator.

What they're saying: Morgan called Johnson a "fridge-hider" in a tweet after the incident.

  • Sources from Johnson's Conservative Party told The Guardian that the prime minister entered the fridge "to prep [him] for a separate, pre-agreed interview" — and stated that he was "categorically not hiding."

The big picture: A key election forecast showed the Conservatives holding a shrinking lead in tomorrow's election.

  • YouGov's MRP poll of 100,000 U.K. voters predicted a 28-seat majority for Johnson's party yesterday — still a solid victory, but significantly down from a projected 68-seat majority late last month.

Go deeper: Why Trump cares about this week's U.K. elections

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