Could the Tories lose northern seats over Boris Johnson’s coal mines joke?

The prime minister’s own MPs fear his crass remark will damage their plan to paint Labour’s ‘red wall’ a permanent shade of blue, writes Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson’s quip could come back to haunt him (Getty)

Boris Johnson may have hoped his comments about Margaret Thatcher and the closure of the coal mines would be seen as a harmless bit of on-brand buffoonery – the kind of jolly jape which creates a lot media fuss, but does no reputational damage with voters.

Remarkably, rather than being an off-the-cuff mistake, the prime minister appears to have planned his joke about the swift destruction of working-class communities.

During his visit to a Scottish wind farm, Mr Johnson told reporters: “Thanks to Margaret Thatcher – who closed so many coal mines across the country – we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.”