Graham Norton compares Priti Patel to school lunch monitor: ‘It’s extraordinary she’s in charge of anything’

Norton compared Patel’s role as home secretary to ‘telling on people and monitoring the lunch queue’

Graham Norton has admitted that he thinks it’s “extraordinary” that Priti Patel is “in charge of anything”.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, the TV presenter offered up his opinions on a number of political figures, including Conservative home secretary Patel.

“I mean, it’s extraordinary she’s in charge of anything,” Norton said. “Her life does seem to have been, you know, untroubled by success.”

He continued: “But she’s in that job and she seems to love it. There’s one in every school, right? Telling on people and monitoring the lunch queue: ‘There’s no saving places!’ That’s her.”

Asked to describe Boris Johnson in three words, Norton said: “Not. For. Me,” adding: “But he won an election and that’s democracy.”

At the end of 2020, Norton left his weekly show on BBC Radio 2 after more than a decade presenting on the network.

This week, he admitted that a “bonus” of departing from BBC Radio is that he will no longer appear on the broadcaster’s annual list of their highest-paid stars.

In the latest list of the BBC’s top paid talent, Norton came in third place, after Gary Lineker and Zoe Ball, with an annual salary of £725,000 – £729,999.

He will now present on Virgin Radio UK, but remains with the BBC for his weekly BBC One talk show, as well as serving as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and commentating on the Eurovision Song Contest.