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Sky News stumped over actor who played Churchill but supported Labour

Sky News was hit with a hilarious community note on X after it appeared stumped over how an actor who played the Tories’ wartime hero Winston Churchill three times could be a Labour Party supporter.

Timothy West, who died peacefully in his sleep this week aged 90, was a passionate life-long supporter of the Labour Party and was part of a group of major party donors who became known as “luvvies for Labour” during the Tony Blair era.

In a review of West’s autobiography, A Moment Towards The End Of The Play, published in 2001, fellow actor Simon Callow said he had been “solidly and determinedly supportive of the Labour Party”, adding that he and his wife Prunella Scales also tirelessly fought the corner of actors.

But he still managed to play Conservative prime minister Winston Churchill on no fewer than three occasions in a revelation that has left some news organisations baffled.

Thankfully, a few people were on hand to point out how such a miraculous feat might have been achieved.

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