Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has mocked millionaire Rishi Sunak for wearing expensive clothing in the latest personal jab from the Tory leadership race.
Ms Dorries, a supporter of Mr Sunak’s leadership rival Liz Truss, pointed to reports that the former chancellor has been pictured wearing a £3,500 suit and £490 Prada shoes.
In a tweet she said that by contrast Ms Truss would be travelling the country £4.50 earrings from high street chain Claire’s.
The tweet drew criticism on social media, as did the Culture Secretary spelling ‘Teesside’ incorrectly in her post.
Mr Sunak was seen wearing a Henry Herbert suit – worth a reported £3,500 – ahead of the vote which saw him and Ms Truss selected by Tory MPs as the final two candidates to be the next Conservative Party leader and prime minister.
The Culture Secretary wrote that Ms Truss “will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire (sic) Accessories.
“Meanwhile… Rishi visits Teeside (sic) in Prada shoes worth £450 and sported £3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote.”
Guildford MP Angela Richardson, a supporter of Mr Sunak, shot back: “FFS (for f***’s sake) Nadine! Muted.”
It comes as Ms Truss and Mr Sunak are due to go head-to-head in a TV debate as the two rival camps clash over immigration, China and the economy.
The BBC debate at 9pm comes after a weekend that saw allies of the two Tory leadership hopefuls trade increasingly personal attacks.
Both candidates will spend Monday engaging in final preparations ahead of the first showdown between the two.
Sophie Raworth will host the debate in Stoke, with the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason and economics editor Faisal Islam offering analysis and some follow-up questions.
The studio audience will be made up entirely of people who voted Conservative at the last general election.
With postal ballots set to go arrive on Tory members’ doorsteps by August 5, Mr Sunak faces pressure to use the BBC debate - and another hosted by TalkTV and the Sun on Tuesday - to make an early breakthrough.
Although he comfortably won the leadership race among Tory MPs, bookmakers have made Ms Truss favourite after a series of opinion polls and surveys put her firmly ahead with Conservative members.
Mr Sunak will meet Tory members at low-key events on Monday and will use the debate to” make a positive case for Britain’s future, debating all kinds of policy areas, including those he has already set out detailed plans for over the last few days, including immigration, Covid backlogs and foreign policy”, a campaign insider said.
The former chancellor’s major foreign policy announcement was a tougher line on China, which he called the “biggest-long term threat to Britain” - but allies of Ms Truss hit back, claiming he had argued for closer economic ties while in the Treasury.
