‘I’ve never seen him so excited’: First Minister’s love of cheese amuses meme-makers

A clip showing the First Minister’s unexpected enthusiasm when asked about cheese has delighted social media.

Cabinet minister Lee Waters MS said he had “genuinely never seen him so excited before” as Mark Drakeford tackled the question, eventually settling on Caerphilly cheese as his favourite.

With delight etched across his face he answered that it was “probably the hardest question I’ve had so far because I really like cheese and always have”.

“But actually there’s a lot of cheese I like and I will be eating some of it over this weekend. So thank you for that question!”

Let us be in no doubt: the first minister Mark Drakeford really, really likes cheese. pic.twitter.com/YlEfJLU4RD

— David Deans (@DeansOfCardiff) July 6, 2020

“When I was a tiny child and used to walk up to my grandparents’ in their farm, one of the things I used to look forward to when I got there was the fact that my grandmother would pass me a piece of cheese to eat,” he said.

“So, ah, because we’re in Wales and I ought to say – let me say Caerphilly is a cheese I really like. That crumbly, slightly salty cheese that is Caerphilly.”

‘Endearing’

Mark Drakeford was answering questions about his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic when a Twitter account Joe Bangles asked him what his favourite cheese was.

The account seems to be on a mission to ask celebrities about their favourite cheese, having already elicited responses from numerous celebs including George Foreman, Pink and John Cleese.

Twitter user Owen Williams created a supercut of the video which showed the First Minister reacting with barely suppressed delight to the question.

Mark Drakeford *really* likes cheese (megamix) pic.twitter.com/QmPjuSjOZe

— Owen Williams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@OwsWills) July 6, 2020

Mark Drakeford as Welsh cheese

A thread pic.twitter.com/YSiKySHAaZ

— Ben Evans (@benevans) July 7, 2020

Other Twitter users compared the First Minister to the Aardman Animations claymation character Wallace and Gromit and the former’s obsessive love of cheese.

“If possible, I’d probably vote for Mark Drakeford at every election I could based on his love of cheese,” the Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Cllr Peter McReynolds, tweeted.

“The day the FM stands down, I want this clip in all the look back reports. It is amazing,” ITV Wales correspondent Rob Osborne added.

“I have never been as excited about anything as much as Mark Drakeford is excited about cheese,” Emlyn Pratt said.

“Drakeford liking cheese is not cute or endearing in any way,” Twitter user Joey Calzone said. “Get a grip of yourselves, have some dignity”