Labour MP Stella Creasy is mocked for mistaking one of London's famous parakeets for an escaped pet

Published: 19:12, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 19:18, 22 July 2026 Labour MP Stella Creasy has been ridiculed after mistaking one of London's famous parakeets for a lost pet parrot.  The MP for Walthamstow posted a video to Instagram yesterday afternoon with the caption: 'Have you lost a parrot in Walthamstow? Please share!' commenting that the bird was 'too big to be a parakeet'.  Her 231,000 followers were left bemused after she then filmed one of the recognisable local birds – with green feathers and a red beak – in Lloyd Park, north London.  There are around 30,000 to 50,000 ring-necked parakeets living in and around London, with hotspots in Richmond Park, Hampstead Heath and Regent's Park after self-sustaining colonies were established in the 1970s.  But the Labour MP was apparently unaware of the local wildlife, sharing a video of a lone parakeet while the song I'm Like A Bird by Nelly Furtado played in the background.  She grew concerned for the bird's owners, saying: 'Walthamstow - up there is a parrot. If you have lost a parrot, not a parakeet, there is a parrot on the loose in Lloyd Park.  'I'll try and post some pictures up of it, but if you've lost an actual parrot - because it's too big to be a parakeet - then it's in Lloyd Park right now!'  Her followers quickly pointed out her error, with many sharing images of common species and writing their own 'missing pet' appeals.  Stella Creasy launched an appeal yesterday for owners of a missing parrot she claimed to have spotted in the trees in a north London park  She then panned to a parakeet, which are common feral birds in London's parks  Stella Creasy has been the Labour MP for Walthamstow since 2010 One user posted a picture of a deer in Richmond and described it as a 'lost cat with a branch stuck on its head', while another posted a picture of a hippo, describing it as a 'missing overweight pug'.  Another pointed out: 'That's a parakeet babe! They live here!!'  The 49-year-old politician has been MP for Walthamstow since 2010, and is currently a backbencher.  Last February, the MP bizarrely claimed fictional bear Paddington would be denied UK citizenship under toughened Home Office rules.  She referred to the fictional talking bear as she lashed out at Government changes to immigration regulations.  The Labour backbencher told BBC Radio 4's Today that the action by the Home Office would 'deny' the marmalade-munching mammal from getting a passport. She said: 'I was incredibly proud over the last couple of months to work with one of my neighbours, who is a young man who fled Syria, who is now making a life here. '[He] has just got his degree, is contributing to our society, and has now got British citizenship. 'This process would deny that. Essentially it would deny, well, frankly, Paddington. 'Paddington did the same thing. He came via an irregular route, we gave him sanctuary but wouldn't give him a passport.'