Theresa May mocks Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond during comedy speech

Prime Minister gives gag-filled address at journalists' dinner, with her own Cabinet ministers bearing the brunt of the jokes

Theresa May mocked Jeremy Corbyn, several Cabinet ministers and herself during a light-hearted speech at a Westminster dinner.

The Prime Minister delivered the after-dinner address at political journalists’ annual gathering and followed the tradition of using the occasion to make a series of gags about members of the political establishment.

Speaking at the Westminster Correspondents' Dinner, the Prime Minister jokingly compared Mr Corbyn to Stalin, poked fun at her senior ministers and recounted a particular awkward moment from last year’s general election campaign.

The dinner was attended by a number of cabinet ministers, including Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd and Penny Morduant, as well as other MPs, journalists and advisers.

Referring to the film ‘The Death of Stalin’, Ms May said it depicts “an ageing socialist demagogue who maintains his power through a sinister personality cult, rewriting history and crushing all internal dissent”.

She then quipped: “I know we’re all very sorry that Jeremy Corbyn can’t be here tonight.”

Shadow cabinet ministers including Emily Thornberry, Barry Gardiner and Angela Rayner were all present at the dinner but Mr Corbyn turned down an invitation to attend.

On the prospect of the Labour leader becoming prime minister, Ms May joked: “I’d be breaking rocks at John McDonnell’s re-education camp on the Isle of Man, along with [Labour MPs] Chuka Umunna, Liz Kendall and other undesirables.

Addressing the journalists, she added: “You’d all be adjusting to a new reality too. Catching up with the latest government initiative trailed exclusively to Skwawkbox, doing your best to stay on the right side of press commissar [Mr Corbyn’s communications director, Seumas] Milne, but of course whatever else happens, Jeremy Hunt will still be Health Secretary.”

The Prime Minister joked that she was looking forward to the correspondents' dinner so much last year that she called a general election in order to avoid it.

“But I can’t pull that stunt two years in a row,” she said. “…Or can I?”

Sarcastically declaring that she was “delighted” to be present this year, Ms May quipped: “What says Theresa May more than a comic speech at a boozy dinner for a room full of journalists? I feel absolutely right at home.”

The Prime Minister made a number of jokes about her portrayal in the media, but interspersed the comedy with a serious message about the need to protect the freedom of the press.

She mocked several members of her Cabinet, with Matt Hancock, the Culture Secretary, a particular target over his decision to launch his own self-titled app.

Ms May said: “So enthusiastic is Matt for the UK’s digital future that I think he’s transcended into a higher state of existence - he’s thrown off the surly bonds of flesh and bond. Matt Hancock actually is now an app.

“He only talks to me via alarming phone notifications, such as ‘Matt Hancock would like to track your location’, ‘Matt Hancock would like to access your photos’ and, perhaps most worryingly of all, ‘There is a fault with Matt Hancock’.”

Continuing the theme, she said the app for Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is “great for extending your vocabulary but it does contain some adult content”, while Chancellor Philip Hammond’s version is “a drier, less frivolous version of LinkedIn”.

Her own app “provides GPS directions to your nearest wheat field, real-time tracking of Priti Patel’s air travel and the instant allocation of all household chores into girl jobs and boy jobs”.

Ms May also mentioned her predecessor, David Cameron, saying she was tempted to ask him to give the speech in her place.

“But the weather has been rather bad in West Oxfordshire and sadly David couldn’t make it because he is snowed in to his wheelie shed,” she joked.

Mr Cameron reportedly spent £25,000 last year on a designer garden shed in which to write his memoirs.

Talking about last year’s botched general election, Ms May recounted having knocked on the open door of a caravan while out campaigning and seen someone lying down inside.

She explained: “I put my head around the door and there was indeed somebody lying down – it was not one person but two and it was not the best time to ask them if they were going to vote Conservative.”

The pair “were giving a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘deep and special’”, she quipped.