MP raises cream tea debate in maiden speech

Ben Maguire admits to 'egregious error'

Ben Maguire MP
Author: Lee Trewhela, Local Democracy Reporting ServicePublished 12th Oct 2024

The age-old debate about whether it’s jam or cream first when enjoying a cream tea was raised in the highest institution in the land this week.

The matter was raised in the maiden speech by North Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MP Ben Maguire, who admitted to an “egregious error” during his election campaign, when a member of his team mistakenly published a photo of a cream tea with the cream placed first (the Devon way). Mr Maguire said that this mistake sent his campaign into “crisis mode.”

He told fellow MPs: “Tragically, it was a dystopian Devon version, with the cream on first and the jam on top. Before anyone had spotted this egregious error, it had been published all over my social media.

”As a proud Cornishman, it was indeed a shameful moment and we immediately went into crisis mode. Luckily, we survived that unfortunate episode, and I will be sure that I am never again associated with any cream tea that is not jam first.”

This moment of levity in his speech was greeted with laughter and cries of “Absolutely, well done”.

Following the Cornish MP’s maiden speech, the Deputy Speaker jokingly remarked: “It is important to be procedurally correct in the Chamber, and the procedure is: cream first and jam second.”

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.