The former Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has been mocked after thinking Minsk was in Russia during an awkward moment on University Challenge.  

In an error that left host Amol Rajan laughing last night, the Durham University alumni quartet failed to know that the port city is actually the capital of Belarus.

During a Christmas special of the episode on BBC Two, Rajan had asked: ‘Now the most populous city north of the Arctic Circle, which Russian city was founded on the Kola Peninsula in the 1910s to serve as a naturally ice-free seaport for the country?’

TikTok influencer Sophia Smith Galer asked her teammates: ‘Minsk isn’t in Russia is it?’ But the broadcaster Tracey MacLeod replied: ‘Yes’, as Smith Galler said: ‘It is?’

Team captain Ms Denyer then answered to Rajan: ‘Minsk?’ But the host laughed after telling them: ‘Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It’s Murmansk that we’re after.’

Durham, whose team also featured art historian Liz James, eventually had the last laugh as they beat Trinity College Cambridge by 185 to 125 in the semi-final.

But one viewer tweeted: ‘Carla Denyer MP, until recently leader of the Greens, was on University Challenge last night and she didn’t know where Minsk was.

‘Am I being unreasonable in thinking that seems like a pretty big knowledge gap for *a party leader* given events in Ukraine over the last four years?’

Another wrote: ‘I find it remarkable that there are still people who expect MPs to know anything. The default value for most MPs these days – with a very few exceptions – is profound ignorance.’ 

The error is reminiscent of a 1994 episode of the TV comedy Friends, in which Minsk is described as being ‘in Russia’ by Max, a colleague of Phoebe’s boyfriend David.

The reference is made in the ‘The One With The Monkey’ in series one, which sees David consider leaving Phoebe in the US and go to live in Minsk to work as a scientist.

And one viewer said: ‘Maybe got her geopolitics knowledge from “Friends” which also made this error?’ 

Others however praised Ms Denyer and the team, with one congratulating them on getting to the final and describing their display as a ‘whole team enthusiastic effort’.

Another backer wrote: ‘I’m no fan of hers but she’s been consistently pretty good on this University Challenge series. Depth of general knowledge seems to be very good and probably puts a lot of other MPs to shame.’ 

Minsk did become part of Russia in 1793 following the Second Partition of Poland, and remained under Russian rule until the revolution and formation of the Soviet Union.

Following the First World War, the city became the capital of the Belorussian republic from 1919 until 1991, when Belarus gained independence after the fall of communism.

Tonight, Durham will take on a Keble College Oxford team in the final at 8.30pm after they beat University College London 170 to 115 in the other semi-final. 

Ms Denyer studied mechanical engineering at St Chad’s College, Durham from 2005 to 2009, then worked as an engineer in renewable energy before moving into politics.

The 40-year-old was one of four Green Party politicians elected to Parliament in the 2024 General Election, the best result the party has ever had at Westminster.

The Bristol Central MP was co-leader of the party alongside Adrian Ramsay between October 2021 and September 2025, when Zack Polanski took over.

Ms Denyer, who grew up in the Hampshire town of Fleet, announced last May that she would not stand again as co-leader in order to focus on her work as an MP.

The University Challenge Christmas 2025 final airs on BBC Two at 8.30pm tonight