Josh Berry lampoons Tory PR advising Boris Johnson and Michael Gove

Impressionist Josh Berry has skewered the CCHQ PR team with an impression of an over-entitled young media adviser. Pictures: Josh Berry - Credit: Josh Berry

Impressionist Josh Berry has been doing a perfect take on an over-entitled Conservative PR, advising senior Tories such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove on their media strategy.

In videos posted on Twitter, Berry poses as the staffer behind both Boris Johnson’s decision to duck an interview with Andrew Neil, and Michael Gove’s infamous “grime” tweet.

Berry perfectly captures the particular public school educated, overconfident and preternaturally promoted PR stereotype that it is so easy to imagine is behind CCHQ’s recent media gaffes.

On his mobile he starts off by telling Johnson things are “Très good mate, très très good” before saying that “Andrew Neil and the Beeb keep pressing us for an interview”.

He advises the prime minister to “sack it off” if he doesn’t feel like it, because “that’s what being a politician’s all about”, before asking Johnson where he is.

CCHQ PR expert advising Boris Johnson on whether to take an interview with Andrew Neil. pic.twitter.com/4xKuuTSEcp
— Josh Berry (@JBImpressions) November 28, 2019

MORE: BBC ‘unable to fix a date’ with Boris Johnson for Andrew Neil interview“Oh mate that is so classic,” he continues, when he hears the reply. He promises he won’t “tell Carrie [Symonds]” and about who he’s visiting, ensures the prime minister gets a non-disclosure agreement signed. “Bolla bolla bolla!” he signs off, incomprehensibly.

Another video takes on Michael Gove’s decision to tweet grime lyrics as part of a tiff with rapper Stormzy.

MORE: Michael Gove starts quoting rap lyrics on Twitter in cringe spat with Stormzy“Rafe” advises that to “engage the mandem” Gove needs to tweet Stormzy’s lyrics.

“Ya ya ya, well it’s my idea but both Poppy and Hugo agree it would be quite classic,” he says. “Exactly get a bit of banter going mate.”

The PR expert who advised Michael Gove to tweet 'I set trends, dem man copy': pic.twitter.com/5n3x9ybI24
— Josh Berry (@JBImpressions) November 27, 2019

Sharpening the critique he continues: “Originally mate we were like, you know, Michael tweets out grime lyrics, that would make him come across like a sneering intellectually arrogant twat, mocking someone simply for being black and having a political view. Like, we should never get him to tweet those. And then we were like: No. We should.”

He ends the call saying he’ll meet Gove later for a “line of the good stuff”.

The character follows up on Berry’s “white privilege” videos in which a very similar young man employs a wealth of clichés of upper class entitlement.

Berry, whose Leicester Square stand-up show opens in March next year, is also known for his impressions of Louis Theroux, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Russell Brand.