You've got the wrong black man! Humiliation for ex-Sun editor who became Britain's most pompous media pundit as he mixes up Kwasi Kwarteng and James Cleverly

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 13:36 EDT, 31 August 2026 | Updated: 14:21 EDT, 31 August 2026 A BBC podcast presenter was embroiled in a furious 'race' row today after being accused of mixing up two prominent black Tory politicians.David Yelland posted a story on social media about Tory MP Sir James Cleverly's move to leave the front benches and run for London mayor, describing him as 'Liz Truss's Brexit chancellor'.But former MP Kwasi Kwarteng was in fact Ms Truss's chancellor during her short-lived stint as prime minister in 2022.Mr Cleverly, who quit as the Tories' housing spokesman on August 29, was forced to inform Mr Yelland that he was 'the other black one' after the mistake went viral on social media platform X.Mr Yelland, a former Sun editor who co-presents BBC Radio 4 podcast When It Hits The Fan, admitted he'd made a 'stupid error'.But he refused to apologise, insisting he'd mixed up Mr Cleverly's job title rather than confused him with Mr Kwarteng. At the time, Mr Cleverly was Ms Truss's foreign secretary.The row erupted last night after Mr Yelland posted a story on X from the Daily Mail with the headline 'Northerner Burnham has "declared war on London" says Cleverly in pitch to be capital's Tory mayor'.This was a reference to Mr Cleverly launching his campaign by saying that Prime Minister Andy Burnham was 'anti-London'. David Yelland, a former Sun editor who co-presents BBC Radio 4 podcast When It Hits The Fan, admitted he'd made a 'stupid error' Amid the simmering row, James Cleverly replied to David Yelland, posting that he was 'the other black one'Kwasi Kwarteng was Ms Truss's chancellor at the time of her ill-fated mini-budget, which brought down her government after it caused economic turmoil Alongside the article, Mr Yelland posted: 'Is this the state of our politics?'Liz Truss's Brexit Chancellor for ten seconds says Andy Burnham has "declared war on London" and expects that to persuade a sophisticated electorate in the capital to elect him as Mayor…this is abysmal PR…ill-judged messaging…awful.'But Mr Yelland was left red-faced after X users pointed out that Mr Cleverly was not Ms Truss's chancellor and that Mr Kwarteng was.Chris Rose, a Reform UK member and black man, posted: 'This is awkward. David Yelland confuses James Cleverly and Kwasi Kwarteng.'Tory peer Lord Jackson of Peterborough added: 'Yelland is a buffoon.'Daily Mail columnist Andrew Neil said: 'Why does anybody take Yelland seriously?'Wading in, Talk TV host Mark Dolan posted: 'Yikes! Ultra woke ex-Sun editor David Yelland thinks Kwasi Kwarteng and James Cleverly are the same man. I wonder why that would be?'Amid the simmering row, Mr Cleverly replied to Mr Yelland, posting on X: 'David, I'm the other black one.'Mr Yelland responded: 'I made a mistake and corrected it. I should have said Foreign Sec [rather than chancellor].'Making an admittedly idiotic error then saying sorry does not make you a buffoon.'He added: 'I confused the jobs not the men actually. I meant to say Foreign Sec and put chancellor. I corrected and apologised as soon as I saw. My fault, my error.'It is unclear why he mentioned Brexit in his post, given the historic vote to leave was many years before in 2016 and Britain left the EU in 2020.Mr Cleverly also went on to be Foreign Secretary for more than 'ten seconds', as he carried on in the post for more than a year after Ms Truss's 49-day premiership collapsed after her mini-budget caused economic turmoil.Born in London, Mr Cleverly is of mixed heritage. His black mother was a midwife originally from Sierra Leone while his father was white, from Wiltshire and ran a small business as a surveyor.Mr Kwarteng was also born in London but his parents were both black and came to the UK from Ghana in the 1960s.He was Ms Truss' chancellor at the time of her ill-fated mini-budget in Autumn 2022, which ultimately brought her premiership crashing down after sparking economic turmoil.