Tory peer denies being Theresa May’s ‘personal friend’ despite knowing her well, in excruciating TV exchange

'She is a very... shy – not shy, but you know she’s a closed person'

Catherine Meyer, a Conservative peer, has denied being Theresa May’s ”personal friend” in an awkward broadcast interview.

“Personal friend makes me laugh,” the baroness said, when introduced as such by Victoria Derbyshire during an appearance on the BBC.

“I know her, I know her well, but personal friend...” she added, when asked if the description was inaccurate.

“She is a very... shy – not shy, but you know she’s a closed person, so personal friend feels a bit...”

“Not how we would necessarily define ‘personal friends’?” Derbyshire said, leaving Baroness Meyer nodding in reply.

Sam Coates, the deputy political editor of The Times appeared alongside Baroness Meyer during the exchange.

“Ouch,” he said afterwards on Twitter, describing the peer's comment as a "curious moment".

In 2016 the baroness wrote an article in The Telegraph supporting Theresa May’s bid to become prime minister.

“I first met Theresa May some 12 years ago,” she wrote at the time, describing the politician as a “warm human being with a sympathetic and practical interest in the problems of others.

“She is lively in private with a good sense of humour – as Conservative MPs have just appeared to discover.”

During her BBC appearance on Thursday, Baroness Meyer went on to say that the PM's pledge to resign on Wednesday took place at an emotional meeting of the 1922 committee.

“The prime minister spoke and she was actually very emotional and so were many of her MPs… she had tears in her eyes,” she said.