As a former Tory leadership challenger, Rory Stewart has been used to facing intense questioning from Britain’s toughest political journalists.
But the former MP and The Rest Is Politics podcaster appeared to channel his own inner politico after spinning intensely in his seat to stare at a fellow panellist on Newsnight.
Mr Stewart’s violent swivel to New Statesman political editor Ailbhe Rea during a discussion on artificial intelligence went viral on X overnight.
The former Army officer and diplomat’s rapid twirl was compared to, among other things, a jackknifing lorry and a labrador hearing the opening of a bag of crisps.
‘He’s a caricature, it’s performative,’ one user opined, while another said: ‘If someone did that to me in a formal conversation I’d just burst out laughing. How did she [Ms Rea] manage to keep a straight face?’
Mr Stewart had been asked about his involvement in King Charles III‘s private AI summit – a closed-doors pow-wow in Scotland with the who’s-who of the AI world, including the boss of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, and leaders from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Rory Stewart’s sudden pivot to New Statesman political editor Ailbhe Rea (right) on Newsnight has been met with hilarious reaction online
Ms Rea did not react to Mr Stewart’s sudden swivel- nor did presenter Matt Chorley or ex-Labour leader Neil Kinnock
The former MP turned podcaster held his gaze for a moment or two before reaching for a mug
After describing the potential of UK infrastructure being dependent on US and Chinese AI software as ‘terrifying’, Mr Stewart swivelled to Ms Rea.
The veteran political journalist did not react as she was asked about the Government’s approach to the developing technology.
Mr Stewart held his stare for a second or two before suddenly sitting back and reaching for a mug on the table in front of him.
A two-second clip of the reaction was published on X last night, where it has been viewed 1.6million times and gained 10,000 likes.
‘When your Dad said it’s up to your mum if you can get an ice cream from the van,’ said one user.
‘When someone whips out a 6 pack of Wagon Wheels out in a board meeting,’ said another.
‘There’s a high degree of Kevin Eldon energy to this. Magnificently strange,’ said columnist Mark Wallace.
Others criticised his appearance on the panel, which coincided with the paperback release of his memoir of his time as an MP, Middleland.
‘He’s mistaking being a celebrity commentator with being an operator with skin in the game,’ one observer claimed.
Mr Stewart was contacted for comment.
A clip of the moment was viewed over one million times and quickly garnered reaction from users on X
Mr Stewart developed a reputation for endearing eccentricity and nerdiness during his time in Parliament, particularly as he ran in the 2019 Tory leadership contest ultimately won by Boris Johnson.
His earnest attempts at connecting with voters saw him taking awkward, unpolished selfies with members of the public.
He was later named a ‘weird crush’ by viewers of the televised Tory leadership debates, particularly as he removed his tie during one debate – in order to, he later said, escape from the ‘alternate reality’ of the TV studio.
During the 2020 London mayoral race, in which he ran as an independent candidate, Mr Stewart launched a bizarre campaign in which he tried to invite himself into voters’ homes to see how the capital’s denizens live.
‘I want to know your concerns and your ideas. And I promise to bring a sleeping bag and a box of chocolates,’ he had quipped. He polled favourably during the race but ultimately dropped out after the Covid pandemic delayed the election by a year.
Prior to his political career Mr Stewart served briefly as an officer in the British Army, but quit the armed forces to study at Oxford, where he briefly tutored Princes William and Harry.
He then joined the Foreign Office in the late 1990s, working at the British Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia before serving as the British Representative to Montenegro in the aftermath of the Kosovo War before taking leave to walk across Asia.
The written chronicle of his walk across Afghanistan, The Places in Between, garnered international praise and was, rumour had it, optioned for a movie.
He became MP for Penrith and The Border in 2010 and served in the Cabinet in environment, international development and prisons positions before quitting Boris Johnson’s cabinet in 2019.
Mr Stewart had the Tory whip withdrawn in 2019 after joining a rebel cohort of MPs who sought to stop a no-deal Brexit, and stood down from his seat that December to run in the London mayoral race.
He warned on Newsnight that the UK cannot become dependent on US and Chinese-run artificial intelligence software.
‘The big question around what the UK does – on a global level the US and China must begin to get regulation in place for safety on AI,’ he said.
‘These things could be phenomenally dangerous but it’s the US and China who are driving the frontier labs.
‘Then the question is Britain, and how we protect ourselves from being completely dependent on the US and China if we build all of our military, all of our hospitals, all of our businesses on American and Chinese AI, and they have the kill-switch, and all the value goes to them? It’s terrifying.’
