Joey Essex went to meet Nick Clegg and told him he was 'sick'

The Only Way is Essex star asks Deputy Prime Minister why his party is called ‘Liberal Demo-cats’

(PA)

Party leaders are coming under fire for failing to spell out the detail of their plans for government but this morning Nick Clegg was forced to explain the Liberal Democrats were not a party of cats.

Party leaders are coming under fire for failing to spell out the detail of their plans for government but this morning Nick Clegg was forced to explain the Liberal Democrats were not a party of cats.

And who was his inquisitor? Joey Essex. The 24-year-old TV reality star turned up to the Deputy Prime Minister’s press conference this morning, looking quite out of place in a tracksuit in a room full of smartly dressed politicians and journalists.

After Mr Clegg had finished speaking mental health policies, Joey quizzed him about his party’s name, asking why they were called ‘Liberal Demo-cats”, to which Mr Clegg had to explain his party was not a group of animals.

But the party must have liked Joey’s name for the party because they partially rebranded their website (check out the top left of it):

Here’s the exchange:

"It's a long word, innit? Two words,” Joey commented.

"There used to be a Liberal Party and then the Social Democrats and they got together,” Mr Clegg explained.

Essex replied: "I was wondering that. I thought it was quite a weird word in it - it's got cats in it. What's the cats about?"

Mr Clegg: "It's not cats, it's crats.”

Essex: "Oh it's crats? I thought it was Liberal Demo-cats."

Clegg: "You can call it demo-cats if you like but I'll stick with democrats."

Essex added: "Oh wicked. Obviously you basically rule this country right, a little bit?"

Mr Clegg explained that he had been Deputy Prime Minister for five years, prompting Essex to reply: "Sick."

Essex: "I sort of rule Essex. I was going to say, someone else will be Prime Minister next? Are you going to be Prime Minister?"

Mr Clegg said: "I'd love to be Prime Minister but I don't think I'm going to win this election outright but I do actually think, a bit like the last, there'll be a debate about which mixture of parties will govern the country and run it well next time round."

Joey Essex listens during a press conference with Liberal Democrat party leader Nick Clegg in Westminster (Steve Parsons/PA Wire)

Essex was interviewing the Lib Dem leader as part of an ITV 2 documentary on the General Election called Educating Joey Essex. It will be aired next month.

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