Conservative party leadership frontrunner Boris Johnson has said he identified closely with the Star Wars’ series heroic, lightsaber-wielding Jedi Knights. Among them are Anakin Skywalker - who eventually turned to the dark side and transformed into Darth Vader - and his son Luke.
Speaking at a press conference, Johnson noted the lightsaber was a thoroughly British innovation.
“Star Wars - I’ll tell you what - I identify very much with the guy with the lightsaber - the Jedi Knights. “I am proud to say the lightsaber is manufactured, was invented in South Ruislip - the constituency I represent.We invented the lightsaber in Uxbridge,” Johnson explained.
He went on to add that the lightsaber was “wielded in Northern Ireland”, a reference to the recent instalments of the franchise being filmed in the region, and boasted that the “resulting film is shown around the world...or something like that”. He also revealed Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku in the controversial prequels, presented him with a lightsaber which now hangs in his Westminster office. The controversial former foreign secretary said the device was "a most beautiful thing" - although when asked he was unable to name a single Star Wars character he liked, or actually identified with.
Perhaps predictably, the outburst provoked much mockery on social media.