Nadine Dorries is being mocked for lavishing praise on Liz Truss, after she noticed the Conversative leadership hopeful wearing “circa £4.50 Claire's Accessories” earrings.
Dorries’ remark was posted on Twitter, linking an article from the Daily Mail that accused Truss’s challenger, former chancellor Rishi Sunak, of wearing a £3,500 bespoke suit on Sunday.
The Tory MP, who is favourite in the race to No 10 as Boris Johnson’s replacement, was also berated by the newspaper for wearing £490 Prada loafers during a visit to a building site in Teesside over the weekend.
Dorries, who is backing Truss in her bid for the top job, wrote on Twitter: “@trussliz will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa £4.50 from Claire Accessories.
“Meanwhile… Rishi visits Teeside in Prada shoes worth £450 and sported £3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote.”
Responding to Dorries’ clumsy endorsement, Tory MP Angela Richardson said: “FFS Nadine! Muted.”
Labour MP Jess Phillips added: “Wonder if two thirds of earrings are not made in the UK and if Liz Truss thinks it’s disgraceful.”
Her joke was in reference to Truss’s infamous “that is a disgrace” diatribe over the amount of cheese being imported into Britain, which she delivered during a Tory party conference in 2014.
Over the course of the Tory leadership race, Sunak has struggled to dispel criticism that he is too out of touch to help Britons navigate the cost of living crisis.
His campaign was initiated by a promotional video which catalogued his humble beginnings in a bid to quash controversy over his family’s tax arrangements.
But despite Dorries’ championing of Truss as a woman of the people, the foregin secretary is no stranger to splashing out.
In January this year, it was revealed that Truss insisted on hosting a lunch at an “incredibly expensive” private club owned by a Tory donor, overruling her officials’ advice to go somewhere more suitable.
Leaked correspondence showed that the foreign secretary “refused to consider anywhere else” and requested taxpayers’ cash for a £3,000 event with Joe Biden’s trade representative.
The venue, owned by Robin Birley - a donor to Boris Johnson’s leadership campaign - reportedly agreed to reduce the bill to £1,400, but on condition of immediate payment.
It comes as Sunak and Truss are preparing for their first TV head-to-head debate on BBC tonight at 9pm, with many of the 160,000 Tory members likely to vote as soon as ballot papers arrive next week.
