Number 10 snub Clarkson PM bid - 20th Aug 2008 7:31pm
NEARLY 50,000 people have signed a petition on the Downing Street website demanding Jeremy Clarkson is appointed Prime Minister.
And yesterday Number 10 delivered a ground-breaking response – on YouTube.
A 55-second video on the internet site opens with a shot of the most famous front door in Britain.
[youtube]wbcKtx97o0M[/youtube]
It thanks the 49,447 people who backed the Clarkson for PM campaign.
And it even admits they made a "compelling case."
As the door to Number 10 opens, the video says officials have "thought long and hard about" the idea.
The camera pans up the famous Downing Street staircase lined with photos and paintings of Britain's PM's through the ages.
At the top, it stops on one of the Top Gear presenter gazing statesmanlike into the distance.
However, it quickly dismisses the notion of the Petrolhead as PM, declaring: "But on second thoughts ... maybe not."
The short video ends with Number 10's email address racing off the screen to the sound of a racing car revving its engines.
A Downing Street spokesman said the short video had been put together in "half-an-hour" by an official working on the PM's website.
"It was a light-hearted response to a humourous petition," he added.
But people who signed the petition criticised the response.
One signatory Steve Rowley fumed: "Do they seriously have nothing better to do with their time and my money!
"I signed the petition in good faith that they take these things seriously."
The video also contrasted with the official reason given on the Number 10 website for the petition being rejected.
It said the campaign was thrown out because it was not an "appropriate" issue for a petition – and "was intended to be humorous."
And yesterday Number 10 delivered a ground-breaking response – on YouTube.
A 55-second video on the internet site opens with a shot of the most famous front door in Britain.
[youtube]wbcKtx97o0M[/youtube]
It thanks the 49,447 people who backed the Clarkson for PM campaign.
And it even admits they made a "compelling case."
As the door to Number 10 opens, the video says officials have "thought long and hard about" the idea.
The camera pans up the famous Downing Street staircase lined with photos and paintings of Britain's PM's through the ages.
At the top, it stops on one of the Top Gear presenter gazing statesmanlike into the distance.
However, it quickly dismisses the notion of the Petrolhead as PM, declaring: "But on second thoughts ... maybe not."
The short video ends with Number 10's email address racing off the screen to the sound of a racing car revving its engines.
A Downing Street spokesman said the short video had been put together in "half-an-hour" by an official working on the PM's website.
"It was a light-hearted response to a humourous petition," he added.
But people who signed the petition criticised the response.
One signatory Steve Rowley fumed: "Do they seriously have nothing better to do with their time and my money!
"I signed the petition in good faith that they take these things seriously."
The video also contrasted with the official reason given on the Number 10 website for the petition being rejected.
It said the campaign was thrown out because it was not an "appropriate" issue for a petition – and "was intended to be humorous."