Just when we thought the Christmas party-slash-quiz allegations couldn’t get any worse, the team names for the battle of wits and general knowledge have been revealed – and of course, they’re absolutely terrible.
The punny teams were unveiled in the latest article from The Mirror, who first broke the news that Boris Johnson hosted a round of the quiz in Downing Street in December last year.
They had pictures too, showing the prime minister next to two aides, at a time when strict rules around mixing with others outside their own household were in place.
Number 10 has said it was a “virtual quiz”, but that “those who were in the office” may have taken part “virtually from their desks”.
Now, The Mirror reports the HR lead in Downing Street told participants to “go out the back”, and that quiz team names included the likes of ‘Professor Quiz Whitty’, ‘Next Slide Please’ and ‘The Six Masketeers’.
Others referenced key political slogans, such as ‘Hands, Face, First Place’ and ‘No Team Name Is Better Than A Bad Team Name’.
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Given the severity of the allegation of a rule-breaking Christmas quiz, many weren’t impressed by the officials’ attempts at wise wordplay:
Good lord just take me back to fucking 2019 https://t.co/5zl06237nR— James (@James) 1639533685
@PoliticsForAlI @DailyMirror Literally taking the piss…— Darren (@Darren) 1639513559
Hello @metpoliceuk …. The Johnson partygoers with their not very funny quiz team names were told to go out by the… https://t.co/YWeT9YMgwW— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@ALASTAIR CAMPBELL) 1639519065
@PippaCrerar Very clever. People were dying.— Mac (@Mac) 1639513960
I don’t mind the gallows humour, that’s understandable in a crisis, but the pre-planning & the “leave by the back e… https://t.co/OWS7DWv9lb— Rupert Myers (@Rupert Myers) 1639552821
What great fun they were all having at the expense of all of us doing our best to comply. My healthy mother-in-law… https://t.co/ANKFe3pM3U— Karl Turner MP (@Karl Turner MP) 1639525743
I’m shocked and appalled. I can’t believe I used the same zoom team name last year as a Tory did. I honestly though… https://t.co/Otfbs0SXSZ— Tiernan Douieb (@Tiernan Douieb) 1639523460
Utter motherfuckers taking the piss now.. https://t.co/lZWroEiMNW— Farage’s Amazon Echo (@Farage’s Amazon Echo) 1639523803
The last pun is so bad I’m considering voting for the Greens. https://t.co/Ghs0l8Gwuk— Geoff Norcott (@Geoff Norcott) 1639521628
This might be the worst detail yet. https://t.co/TUWFBoTWH4— Elaine Scattermoon (@Elaine Scattermoon) 1639518640
Meanwhile some people admitted they actually found them to be “superb” team names:
Literally the most genius thing this gov has come up with is the Xmas Quiz group named 😂 Professor Quiz Whitty and… https://t.co/2l0oTPR1C3— Liam Chick (@Liam Chick) 1639524993
ngl i am laughing https://t.co/3Z6o6aM6Ee— dan (@dan) 1639520082
@PoliticsForAlI @DailyMirror Some decent names tbf— Paul Thomas (@Paul Thomas) 1639513926
@PoliticsForAlI @DailyMirror Credit where its due these are great names— William Chapple (@William Chapple) 1639514946
@PippaCrerar @mikeysmith I mean, Cheeses of Nazareth is a pretty good team name. https://t.co/mLeZCDZ6uI— Jasper (@Jasper) 1639513756
Fair play, those are good team names. https://t.co/P3v9H7dDA1— Tom Whipple (@Tom Whipple) 1639520306
I mean yeah there was the austerity, the brazen disregard for democratic norms, Brexit, the culture wars and everyt… https://t.co/MRawsiiigf— James Benge (@James Benge) 1639516079
What we’re left wondering now is who got the booby prize…
Matt Hancock?