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Paddy Ashdown Trends On Twitter After Promising To 'Publicly Eat Hat' If Exit Poll Is Accurate
Social media went crazy when the former Lib Dem leader made his bold pledge in response to the shock exit poll
Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown was ridiculed online on Thursday night after insisting he'd 'publicly eat my hat' is the election exit polls were right.
A broadcasters' exit poll suggested the Lib Dems would win just 10 seats in the general election.
Senior Lib Dems distanced themselves from the exit polls, which would pile pressure on Nick Clegg's leadership if accurate.
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But Mr Ashdown, who led the Lib Dems for 11 years between 1988 and 1999, made a much bolder claim when he heard the exit poll news.
His bold pledge inevitably took social media by storm, with the veteran Lib Dem quickly trending on Twitter.
Paddy Ashdown, in need of a hat, is on the blower to Homer Simpson... pic.twitter.com/jlS7LsO3oP
— James Markham (@JMarkham1980) May 7, 2015
Paddy Ashdown buys himself a new hat. #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/KcIRcvwHK9
— Goldilocks Zone (@1GoldilocksZone) May 7, 2015
BREAKING: Paddy Ashdown's hat has arrived at the studio. pic.twitter.com/t8c0E3cMUr
— Andrea Mann (@AndreaMann) May 7, 2015
Pictures of Mr Ashdown eating a variety of hats quickly surfaced on Twitter, and the hat itself even had its own account which gained 6,000 followers in a matter of minutes.
Mr Clegg's party won 57 seats in 2010 and Lib Dem sources have suggested they 'realistically' expected to return 30 or more MPs despite stubbornly low opinion poll ratings.
A party spokesman said: 'This exit poll does not reflect any of our intelligence from today or in the run-up to polling day. We will wait for the final results.'
The spokesman added: 'No opinion poll to date has shown the numbers in this exit poll.'
