Guido Fawkes petition calling for Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear reinstatement reaches 390,000 signatories
A petition created by political blogger Guido Fawkes calling for the reinstatement of suspended Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has gone viral, mustering 390,000 signatures.
Following the news that Jeremy Clarkson allegedly punched BBC Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon after the showrunners failed to cater for the presenters, Sunday’s upcoming show and this season's remaining episodes were canned.
Clarkson's future at the broadcaster seems in doubt after ITV News reported that he joked that he was "off to the job centre" as he was leaving his north London home today (Wednesday 11 March), musing that "at least I'm on schedule for the Chelsea match tonight".
The news has fuelled speculation over who will pick up the role of fronting the motoring show, with DJ and car enthusiast Chris Evans already denying any interest in becoming the next Top Gear head.
The hashtag #BringBackClarkson was also trending on Twitter in the UK, boosting Fawkes' petition which is hosted on Change.org. Guido Fawkes announced the landmark of 300,000 signatures late on Wednesday morning.
300,000 http://t.co/qplyAXbOHe
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) March 11, 2015
Furthermore, the Twitter persona mocked the #NoMorePage3 campaign by boasting the popularity of his petition.
#NoMorePage3 got 240,000 signatures after 3 years, #BringBackClarkson 250,000 signatures in less than a day. We're winning. @MarinaHyde
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) March 11, 2015
On the petition, Top Gear co-host James May tweeted:
Save Clarkson? Save empty cardboard boxes and off-cuts of string. They're far more useful.
— James May (@MrJamesMay) March 11, 2015
On what should replace Top Gear on the Sunday schedule presenters May and Richard Hammond jokingly speculated:
No, surely, Last of the Summer Wine; no one will notice the difference. Job done. @MrJamesMay @JeremyClarkson
— Richard Hammond (@RichardHammond) March 10, 2015
Mark Borkowski, founder and head of Borkowski PR, gave The Drum his analysis on how Clarkson and the BBC should handle the situiaton, stating that for the BBC "replacing Top Gear is another ball-ache and very serious challenge".
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