Can It Get Any Worse? May Accused of Copying Speech of Fictional US TV Character

Theresa May's speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Wednesday, October 3, was a car crash, as her voice failed, a prankster ambushed her with a P45 and a part of the sign behind her fell off — and now some of her rhetoric, it appears, has been plagiarized from the popular US TV show The West Wing.

Several political commentators pointed out that extracts of her speech bore a striking resemblance to one made by President Josiah Bartlett, Martin Sheen's character in the show. 

"And it is when tested the most that we reach deep within ourselves and find that our capacity to rise to the challenge before us may well be limitless," was the excerpt from May's bungled speech.

"Every time we think we have a measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless," was the uncannily similar sentence from a speech called American Heroes in a 2002 episode of the long-running drama, which focused on the travails of a liberal Democrat President.

Ironically May's predecessor, David Cameron, was caught on camera humming the theme tune to The West Wing as he walked into 10 Downing Street after announcing he was handing over to May.

Downing Street has played down the similarities.

But the vultures are already circling for May, with several commentators suggesting she may not last the 18 months until Britain pulls out of the European Union.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has done everything to undermine May's position on Brexit, is the favorite to take over the leadership if she is forced out.

Johnson has managed to shrug off criticism after he appeared to make callous remarks about the victims of the Libyan civil war this week.