Sir Keir Starmer today said the most exciting thing he has ever done is go to the football with his children.
The Labour leadership frontrunner struggled to answer the question when he was asked by LBC radio host Nick Ferrari.
The married father of two initially said that he had ‘done lots of exciting things’ before pausing and then settling on playing football and going to matches with his children as his final answer.
His response prompted laughter and good-natured mockery from Mr Ferrari who then proceeded to ask if he had ever ‘stared into the eye of a tiger’.
His comments will inevitably draw comparisons to Theresa May’s response in June 2017 when she was asked to name the naughtiest thing she had ever done.
The former PM memorably said she used to ‘run through fields of wheat’ with a friend and that the local farmers ‘weren’t too pleased about that’.
Sir Keir Starmer, pictured at a Labour leadership event in Durham yesterday, today struggled to name the most exciting thing he has ever done
Sir Keir was asked what the ‘most exiting thing’ he had ever done was after the Financial Times published a profile of him which labelled him ‘boring’.
He replied: ‘Oh I’ve done lots of exciting things. You know. Playing football, going to football with my kids.’
Mr Ferrari then interrupted and asked: ‘Going to football with your children is the most exciting thing Sir Keir Starmer has ever done? Do you wish to revise that Sir Keir?’
A laughing Sir Keir told his host that ‘you are characterising me’ as Mr Ferrari again pressed if he wanted to change his answer.
Mr Ferrari then said: ‘Have you ever thrown yourself out of an aircraft in a parachute jump? Have you ever bungee jumped? Have you ever stared into the eye of a tiger?
‘I am trying to help you here!’
Sir Keir replied: ‘No, I haven’t. Look, there are all sorts of descriptions people give to candidates, left, right and centre.’
He added: ‘I have done like most campaigners which is knocked on someone’s door and someone answers and they are half naked and all the rest of it.’
He then tried to save the situation as he told a story about life on the campaign trail.
‘We were on our way up to Glasgow for some hustings, Friday now, because we got stuck in Newcastle, all the trains couldn’t move out of Newcastle, it was Friday night and it is Valentine’s night and we haven’t got a room,’ he said.
‘So we go across to the hotel and eventually a room is rustled up, a small room, they give me the key and I am quite relieved.
‘I go up to go in and open the door and there is a single bed and there is somebody in it.’
Asked who was in the bed, he laughed and said: ‘I didn’t get that far because when I saw someone was in the bed I thought this was not the place for a conversation.’
Labour members start voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s successor today, Their choice will be tasked with recovering the party from its catastrophic general election defeat.
The ballots begin opening on Monday amid a largely cordial campaign between Sir Keir, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.
All three on Sunday said they would offer the losing leadership candidates jobs in their shadow cabinet.
Members and party supporters who have signed up for a fee will begin receiving their ballots on Monday, with batches being sent out by email and post throughout the week.
They will also select a new deputy leader between candidates Angela Rayner, Dawn Butler, Ian Murray, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon.
Sir Keir, the shadow Brexit secretary seen as a clear frontrunner, said in a Durham hustings that he would offer senior roles to both of his opponents if he won.
‘I would happily offer both these candidates a top job in the shadow cabinet and I’d happily serve them if they wanted me to do the same,’ he said.
Ms Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary who has struggled in the polls since being seen as an early favourite, said she would accept a job in either of their shadow cabinets and offer them both roles.
‘I would, I think they’re both brilliant,’ the shadow business secretary said. ‘And I would do whatever I was asked and whatever it takes to make sure, if I didn’t become leader, to make sure we were elected as the next Labour government.’
Wigan MP Ms Nandy also praised her opponents in confirming she would give them key roles.
‘I like both of these people, I respect them. I would want them in my shadow cabinet doing big jobs,’ she said. ‘But I would equally be happy to serve alongside them in whatever role they chose to give me.’
The candidates have nearly six weeks to secure voters’ support before the ballot closes but many were expected to make their voices heard at the first opportunity.
The winners are set to be named on April 4 before taking up the roles immediately.