The claim
“Sarah loves Marmite, I love marmalade.”
Gordon Brown during a TweetMinster on Twitter session, 22 April 2010

The background
The prime minister submitted to Twitter this afternoon. Along with other questions on comparatively trivial matters such as electoral reform, the economy and foreign affairs, the First Lord of the Treasury was asked whether he loves or hates Marmite. He responded that his wife loves Marmite while he loves marmalade.

So just how passionate and longstanding is his attachment to marmalade? Was the leader of the Labour party expressing a heartfelt preference – or did he perhaps have more cynical motives? And why would he not comment on whether he cares for a particular brand of yeast extract?

Incredibly, FactCheck decided to take a closer look.

The analysis
The prime minister has found interrogation about his culinary preferences daunting in the past. Last October he took questions from the online parenting forum Mumsnet but proved remarkably unwilling to reveal the identity of his favourite biscuit.

He later clarified his position – perhaps in a bid to stave off an international incident – and admitted to being partial to “anything with a bit of chocolate”.

Marmite is a by-product of beer-making, and is made from brewer’s yeast that has been used to ferment sugars into alcohol. 1902 saw the creation of the Marmite Food Company in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Marmite is now owned by Unilever. The company markets its product as something people either love or hate.

According to Wikipedia (which is an adequate source on this occasion), marmalade is “a fruit preserve, made from any of the citrus fruits, sugar, and water” and may include “peel and zest, which imparts a sharp, bitter taste from the bitter citrus oil”.

It is possible that a sketchwriter will write tomorrow that the prime minister is eating lots of marmalade in a desperate bid to inject some zest into his campaign, if they are feeling exceptionally uninspired.

The fact that marmalade has taken off as an issue in this election is utterly unexpected. A search of the online version of Hansard reveals just twelve references to marmalade in the House of Commons chamber since November 1989. The person who undertook that search on behalf of FactCheck studied politics at Oxford University.

FactCheck undertook another comprehensive search but could find no evidence that the prime minister has publicly expressed his affection for marmalade before.

We asked the Labour party for further details on the prime minister’s stance on Marmite and marmalade, in a telephone conversation which both participants found excruciating. Our toast is getting cold while we wait for Labour to get back to us.

The verdict
FactCheck has no reason to doubt the sincerity of the prime minister’s love for marmalade. But we can also find no evidence that he has publicly discussed this passion before. Whether this is because he has something to hide or because it has never occurred to him that this is anything other than a fantastically unimportant matter is unclear.

The electorate will note – with either acute distress or weary cynicism – that the prime minister has totally avoided stating his position on Marmite.

Mr Brown may need to firm up his line on both spreads in advance of tonight’s leaders’ debate. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are bound to probe him relentlessly on this issue, unless the programme turns into a turgid discussion about the United Kingdom’s stance on a variety of global issues.

FactCheck admits this image has been altered