article: David Cameron urged an audience to support West Ham during a speech yesterday - despite the fact he's always claimed to be an Aston Villa fan. The Prime Minister subsequently admitted he'd suffered a 'brain fade' during the election campaign address in Croydon, where he was outlining his vision for black and ethnic minority communities. He said: 'This a country where people of all faiths, all colours, creeds and backgrounds can live together in one place. David Cameron looks a bit sheepish after accidentally urging the audience to support West Ham - though he didn't correct himself until asked about the gaffe afterwards . Last week the Conservative leader tweeted his delight at Villa reaching the FA Cup final by beating Liverpool . 'We are a shining example of a country where multiple identities work. 'A country where you can be Welsh and Hindu and British, Northern Irish and Jewish and British, where you can wear a kilt and a turban, where you can wear a hijab covered in poppies. 'Where you can support Man Utd, the Windies and Team GB all at the same time. 'Of course, I'd rather you supported West Ham.' The Conservative leader was pulled up on the error after the speech, which he read from an autocue, though the party has since admitted it was not included in his prepared text but was an off the cuff remark. It was omitted from the official transcript of his speech issued by the Conservative Party. Cameron blamed his gaffe on a 'brain fade' like that suffered by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett earlier in the campaign. He said: 'I'm a Villa fan ... I must have been overcome by something ... this morning. 'But there we are, these things sometimes happen when you are on the stump.' The two teams do both play in a claret blue colours - albeit in stadiums 130 miles apart. Only last week Cameron tweeted his delight at Villa reaching the FA Cup final by beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley. He told the Birmingham Mail: 'It was a tremendous game with [club stars] Benteke and Delph doing Villa proud, against the odds. I can't wait to watch the final at the end of May.' The PM has been a fan since his teens after after he was taken to Villa Park aged 13 by his uncle Sir William Dugdale, who was club chairman from 1975 to 1982. Sir William died last year. The PM has been a Villa fan since his teens and is pictured here during a game against QPR in 2011 . Piers Morgan was one of a number of football fans to lay in to the Prime Minister on Twitter over his error . His error was swiftly seized upon by his political rivals, as the hashtag #villagate began trending on Twitter. Labour's former communications chief Alastair Campbell - whose own team Burnley also play in claret and blue - said the mistake 'says a lot about his character which impacts upon policy. Out of touch. Phoney. Believes nothing.' Campbell said every sports fan would have their 'stomach churning' to hear the PM apparently forget the name of the team he supported, adding: 'I am sorry but this alone means Cameron has to go. Total million percent phoney, as (Villa manager) Tim Sherwood might say.' Shadow chancellor Ed Balls, a fervent Norwich City fan, tweeted: 'Hey David Cameron ... I'm off to see that football team I support this afternoon. Name escapes me ... they play in yellow ... Watford?' But former Conservative press officer Jonathan Collett, a fellow Villa supporter, said he believed the mistake was down to an error in Mr Cameron's speech. 'PM is a passionate Villa fan. Takes son to matches ... Suspect speechwriter error,' said Mr Collett. Soon after the prime minister's gaffe comedian Matt Lucas took to Twitter, creating an amusing new team name. He posted: 'David Cameron just remembered his favourite football team is Weston Villham.' While former England footballer Gary Lineker posted a video of the 'brain fade' and wrote: 'David Cameron has forgotten which Football Club he supports. Aston Villa last week, West Ham this. Burnely next?'. Cameron backed Aston Villa's new manager Tim Sherwood (pictured) to make an impact in the club's bid to stave off Premier League relegation . Nigel Farage also made fun of Cameron, telling PA he not make 'pretences' about football teams he supports and then change them but revealed his son is a Crystal Palace season ticket holder. The UKIP leader said: 'My grandfather was a Crystal Palace supporter, my grandmother was, my eldest son is a season ticket holder, he's there this afternoon, there's a match against Hull today. 'Football's not a big part of my life but I don't make pretences about teams I support and then chop and change them.' When he was first elected to Parliament in 2001, Cameron said he did not follow football, telling the House of Commons in a debate on hooliganism that year: 'Many of those who have spoken in the debate or have written about the subject are either lawyers or football fans, but I have to confess that I am neither.' The first mentions in the national press of his liking for Aston Villa came after he was elected Tory leader in 2005. He was reported in 2006 to have written on his blog that he 'half-heartedly' supported Villa and could name only three of their players. Mr Cameron was asked about the slip-up in an interview with Sky News' Murnaghan to be broadcast tomorrow. Asked to confirm which team he actually supports, he said: 'I've been an Aston Villa fan all my life, I literally opened my mouth and I was going off-piste about the fact that in Britain you can be a supporter of the West Indies, a supporter of Manchester United, and a supporter of Team GB. 'I was then busking about other things you can support and was ... I don't know what happened to me, it was just one of those things.' Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, also a fan of a claret coloured team, enjoyed the PM's gaffe . Asked if it was on the script, he said: 'No, it wasn't on the script, I was going off-script to add to the examples, and I suppose it is just the campaign. By the time you have made as many speeches as I have on this campaign all sorts of funny things start popping out of your mouth.' Asked if he remembered watching Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich in the European Cup final as a child, he said: 'I do, that's why I became a Villa fan.' Pressed to say when it was, he replied: 'I'm not doing quiz time because I'll get them all wrong, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. 'That's why I became a Villa fan, because my uncle was involved in the club, and back in the early 80s, with all those successes, and Andy Gray and Brian Little, and that's what got me going. 'But I don't go very often, in fact I haven't been for years and years, but I try and keep up, and I'm hoping we are going to escape the relegation zone, which we're out of now, and obviously the FA Cup final is very exciting.' The Prime Minister' mistake was soon trending on Twitter as #villagate. He blamed it on a 'brain fade' like that suffered by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett earlier in the election campaign . Reminded of his comment in 2001 in the House of Commons that he wasn't actually a football fan, Mr Cameron said: 'I mean, I'm not a regular attender, I used to play football as a kid, my son plays football, and I try and sort of keep up with what's happening in the Premier League and see how Villa are doing. 'But when they get snug in the middle of the table I tend to sort of, I tend to back off a bit. When we get close to the bottom I get nervous, but I don't know what happened this morning.' Asked a final time to name the year Villa won the European Cup (1982), he said: 'It was early eighties. I'm not going to give you a date because I'll get it wrong.' Asked who scored the one goal (Peter Withe), he replied: 'You're wasting your precious interview time.' In February he publically backed new manager Tim Sherwood to make an impact in Villa's efforts to stave off Premier League relegation, saying: 'I am hoping for a couple of Villa gains to lift us out of the danger zone.' He has been pictured at Villa games in the past, including a clash with QPR at Loftus Road in 2011.
highlights: Conservative leader was speaking from autocue at Croydon election event .
  But Tory party confirmed it was an 'off the cuff' remark not in his speech .
  Got the wrong claret and blue side despite being a Villa fan since his teens .
  Said in his defence: 'These things can happen when you are on the stump'
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