A NEWSREADER in a slick suit and tie stands in a busy London street. He is about to start a piece to camera and exchanges words with his producer, Tim.

He muses on one of the big issues of the day: the election of Trump, Brexit, Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party, North Korea or the privatisation of the NHS.

From small talk his thoughts snowball into an impassioned sweary monologue.

Welcome to the world of Jonathan Pie, the new face of political comedy.

The creation of actor Tom Walker, Pie has become a global phenomenon; his convincing portrayal of a journalist voicing his confusion and anger speaking for many of us, and clocking up hundreds of thousands of online views a week.

“It’s only satire,” Tom tells me. He is out of character but comes so close to his alter-ego it’s hard to tell the difference.

“It is from a leftish point of view and he’s not always right – but then satire from the left is not always right.

“He’s definitely contrary though.”

We need Jonathan Pie. So much political comedy has become smug, boring, box-ticking self-congratulatory fare. No one is getting angry any more.

And, heaven knows, there’s certainly no shortage of material.

Tom admits Pie’s time has come. “During the Blair years, left wing comedians felt a bit embarrassed to rip into him,” he says. “But that’s all changed. Older generations have seen it before, of course, with Ben Elton and Alexei Sayle, but for younger generations its completely new. And as more unexpected things happen, it is having a resurgence.”

He pauses for a second, and adds: “We are living in extraordinary times.”

An online phenomenon, Pie’s three- to four-minute diatribes have attracted a cult following.

His piece on Trump, in which he sticks the boot into the president while also suggesting the left ought to shoulder some of the blame, for putting up such a lacklustre and ideologically bereft figure as Hillary Clinton, went viral, attracting 120 million views.

So well-observed was Tom’s portrayal of the frustrated newsman, many thought it was real – including ultra-conservative ‘alt-right’ news organisation Breitbart, which gleefully reported on this apparent piece of left-wing soul-searching. Fake news indeed.

But then Pie looks and acts every inch the television journalist.

“I find that a massive compliment,” he says. “But it’s just me doing my job as an actor. I’m not from a journalistic background.”

And how does he feel about the far right sharing his work?

“If Breitbart want to share a video of me calling Donald Trump a sexual predator who is no good at his job, I don’t care,” he says.

“I don’t have a responsibility to say it’s not real. If people think it’s real, that’s fine. But if after seeing two or three they still think it’s real, there’s probably something wrong with them.”

You won’t find Pie on the TV – not yet anyway. He has built up his audience without the help of the major networks, by putting out short segments on YouTube. And he is no newcomer.

“I have been doing this since the election before the last one,” says Tom. “It’s easy to forget what an extraordinary result that was for the Conservatives to gain a majority.

“Then Jeremy Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party; a left wing leader of a left wing party. Just imagine!”

He insists Jonathan Pie is very definitely not Tom Walker – though concedes there is some overlap.

“We are comparable politically, but I don’t care as much as he does,” says Tom.

“I write with a co-writer and we come from different places and different sides of the referendum. He voted to leave and I voted to remain. Jonathan is very much a reluctant remainer.

“It takes a lightness of touch as a writer to be able to look at a different angle. You hear a lot about all leave supporters being stupid, but that’s demonstrably not the case!”

He goes on: “Every comedy character has their flaw. With David Brent it was his need to be famous, with Basil Fawlty it was his snobbery, and with Pie it’s that he can’t not talk about politics – and he can’t not get angry.

“I’m not like that. Before Pie I’d never talk politics in the pub, though now it’s expected.”

He is about to embark on a live tour, Jonathan Pie: Back To The Studio, which calls in at the New Theatre Oxford next Wednesday.

The show is a chance for Tom to expand on his snappy packages.

“It’s a lot easier as I can explain ideas more deeply,” he says.

“With the three- or-four minute things you have to simply things. This way I can expand a bit. We stick to what people expect though.”

He says inspiration for Pie came from watching a YouTube clip of newsreader Peter Sissons, in an unguarded moment at his desk watching The Weakest Link, and commenting, with straight face, rather directly on Anne Robinson’s appearance.

“It was never meant to go public,” Tom says. “It was just what he was thinking.”

Tom, and indeed Pie, have no truck with the current left-wing vogue, particularly common within universities, for censorship and no-platforming.

“You can only win debates by engaging in them,” he says. “Assuming bigotry where none exists is dangerous.

“Some would say that as a privileged white male I’m not allowed to talk about certain subjects, but I don’t buy that.

“Assume the best not the worst. The left is too quick to assume bigotry.”

And for those looking to take offence, he has little sympathy: “One or two people being offended on Twitter, a news story does not make,” he says. “That’s just lazy journalism.”

While an online hit, would Tom consider taking the show on to television? “I’d love to see Pie on TV, but television is very risk-averse these days,” he says.

“It’s crying out for something more interesting and challenging, but I’m not sure it’s ready for Pie!”

*Jonathan Pie: Back to the Studio is at the New Theatre, George Street, Oxford, tomorrow. For tickets go to atgtickets.com.

Catch Jonathan’s monologues on YouTube