As Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham apologies after being recorded agreeing with Gordon Brown that voter Gillian Duffy was "bigoted", The Northern Echo recounts ten famous microphone gaffes.

1. John Major: Following a TV interview in 1993, the Prime Minister called some members of his cabinet "b*****ds" and promised to "crucify" them.

2. Andy Gray and Richard Keys: The Sky Sports presenters lost their jobs after a microphone picked up their conversation questioning whether a female assistant referee knew the offside rule.

3. Ronald Reagan: At the height of the Cold War in 1984 the American President joked during a sound check: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

4. Prince Charles: Speaking to his sons during a skiing holiday in 2005 about BBC reporter Nicholas Witchell, he said: "These bloody people. I can't bear that man. I mean, he's so awful, he really is."

5. Ron Atkinson: In 2004 the microphone picked up the former manager making a racist comment about black Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly.

The Northern Echo:

6. George W Bush: At the 2006 G8 summit in Russia, Bush hailed the British Prime Minister with the greeting "Yo Blair!".Bush then thanked Blair for the gift of a sweater before referring to an armed conflict that had just broken out in Lebanon between Israeli forces and the Shi'a group Hezbollah. "What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this s**t," Bush said.

7. Nick Clegg: After a public meeting in 2011, Clegg joked with David Cameron that they would have nothing to disagree about at the next general election.

8. Jacques Chirac: In 2005, the French president Jacques Chirac was caught on tape saying about the British: "The only thing that they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease."

The Northern Echo:

9. Jesse Jackson: In the run-up to the 2008 election, the civil rights campaigner was overheard accusing Barack Obama of "talking down to black people". He added: "I want to cut his nuts off."

10. Gordon Brown: In the run up to the 2010 election, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was overheard calling Gillian Duffy a "bigoted woman" after the pensioner confronted him over immigration. 

Below, Gordon Brown visits the home of Gillian Duffy to apologise for his comments