Matthew Wright - Opinions

Opinions

Wright often implies a sense of rivalry with fellow TV presenter Jeremy Kyle and his eponymously-named The Jeremy Kyle Show, which is broadcast on ITV1 at the same time as The Wright Stuff is broadcast on Five, and Wright expresses contempt for the viewers of Kyle's series, believing they lack intelligence. Wright has said: "I'd say our show is about the normal world while he plumbs the depths of inbred, alkie, junkie wasters with rampant sex lives."

Wright has been associated with a number of mainly left-wing political causes. He is a long-time supporter of nuclear disarmament in the United Kingdom and was involved in anti-nuclear marches in the early 1980s. He is a frequent critic of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, especially over his decision to take Britain into the Iraq War, which Wright marched against, and often criticises Blair for his financial wealth and the millions of "socialist pounds" Blair has made since leaving office. In 2005, Wright interviewed Blair on The Wright Stuff prior to the General Election but chose not to ask Blair any difficult questions about his decision to take Britain to war. In December 2010, while presenting his show, Wright criticised Blair's property ownership, stating, "Tony Blair ended up with five houses as a result of the boom years of Labour. And when he was interviewed by Andrew Marr about the five houses, Tony offered the righteous, socialist excuse that he has to look after his children, of which I believe there are four. Four children, five houses. So it's a little bit beyond a house per child." In March 2011, Wright described Blair as a "good friend" of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, presenting a photograph of Blair shaking Gaddafi's hand, and criticised Blair for selling guns and crowd control weapons to Gaddafi for him to use against his own people.

Wright advocates higher taxes on the wealthy and on 4 June 2012 stated on his show: "The most important thing we have to remember is that the very rich pay less tax. That's the objective of the government. The very rich were paying 50% tax, now it's gone down to 45%. But we've got to remember the priority in this country is to ensure the rich get richer."

Wright is renowned for his dislike of children, calling them "little polluters", and often refers to parents as "breeders" who are "cluttering up the planet".