Mandy attack: 'Green slime on his face? I thought he was leaking'

Lord Mandelson was spattered with dyed custard last week. He managed to respond with more aplomb than fellow protest victims

Peter Mandelson was splattered with green slime last week as he arrived outside the Royal Society in central London to deliver a speech on low-carbon energy initiatives. One radio caller said he though the Secretary of State for Business was leaking.

Leila Deen, 29, a member of the anti-airport group Plane Stupid, hurled the custard, dyed green and concealed in a coffee cup, into his face. To be fair to Lord Mandelson, he quickly washed, reappeared before the TV cameras, and even joked about it all.

He has long been teased about apparently confusing mushy peas in a Hartlepool chippy with the rather more metropolitan guacamole, and played along with reporters who joshed him. There was even a gag about those who questioned his green credentials: "I don't mind people saying it to my face. I'm not so keen on them throwing it in my face."

Police said they were investigating the matter amid concerns about the level of security surrounding Lord Mandelson.

Eggs

During the 2001 election campaign John Prescott was the target of egg-throwing assailant Craig Evans. Onlookers were amazed when Prescott responded with a left hook.

Daffodils

In 1992 the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was attacked by a woman wielding a bunch of flowers in Stockport.

Water pistol

Channel 4 had to apologise to Tom Cruise in 2005 when a film crew making a comedy sketch for the station squirted the actor with a water pistol disguised as a microphone.

Flour

In 2004 Fathers 4 Justice targeted Tony Blair in the House of Commons, hitting him with condoms filled with purple flour.