Business Secretary Lord Mandelson has been nominated for a BAFTA award for services to comedy, it was announced this morning.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is to present Mandelson with a special award. He is to be honoured jointly with Leila Deen, in honour of their recent collaboration on the short film 'Custard Connivances'.
Senior Academy Judge Richard Attenborough said, "we've always known that darling Peter was part of a wonderful comedy double act, playing the perfect Tommy Cannon to the lovely Gordon Brown's zany Bobby Ball. But with this latest masterwork, we can see Peter's wonderful talent for physical comedy, worthy of Oliver Hardy or, dare I say it, even the great Chaplin himself".
This is the second BAFTA award to be won by a member of the Labour Government. Prime Minister Gordon Brown was recently awarded a Best Actor BAFTA for his portrayal of a half-blind, malformed scruffy, deluded fantasist who believes himself to be a world statesman - a performance described by the academy as 'on a par with Olivier's Richard III'.
Ms Deen was unavailable for comment on her upcoming award, as she is currently banged up in Belmarsh awaiting execution for terrorism offences.
