Nadine Dorries praises Liz Truss for ‘wearing £4.50 earrings from Claire’s’
Tory infighting heated up on Monday as Nadine Dorries was mocked for comparing how much the two remaining leadership candidates spend on their clothing and accessories.
The culture secretary was told ‘FFS Nadine’ by another Conservative MP after she appeared to imply that Liz Truss should be the next prime minister because she ‘wears £4.50 earrings from Claire’s Accessories’.
She was contrasting the foreign secretary with rival ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who was reported to be wearing a £3,500 suit and £490 Prada shoes last week.
But Ms Dorries was left red-faced after interviews resurfaced where she admitted spending thousands on jewellery and clothes.
Taking to Twitter this morning, she wrote: ‘Liz Truss 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.’
Other Tory politicians were left unimpressed, with Guildford MP Angela Richardson, a supporter of Mr Sunak, tweeting: ’FS (for f***’s sake) Nadine! Muted.’
Cabinet Office minister and Conservative MP, Johnny Mercer, said the race to be the next prime minister was becoming embarrassing.
He warned that ‘on current trajectory’ the party would be out of power in two years’ time.
‘The puerile nature of this leadership contest is embarrassing’, he said. ‘Time to raise the standards.’
Twitter users were quick to remind Ms Dorries of previously admitting to owning £6,000 diamond earrings.
‘I will wear cheaper clothes but there are things I will not compromise on, like my £6,000 diamond earrings, she reportedly told The Guardian in 2007.
In another interview with the Daily Express in 2017, she described doing two big clothes shops a year where she ‘probably spends over £1,000’.
People on social media also criticised Ms Dorries for making a ‘low blow’ and reducing the leadership contest to clothing.
Others also pointed out a report from The Sunday Times that Ms Truss allegedly overruled civil servants’ advice to host a £3,000 at a Conservative donor’s private members’ club. The bill was reportedly negotiated down to £1,400.
Mr Sunak, who is said to share an estimated £730 million with his wife, has previously been criticised for being ‘out of touch’.
Earlier in July, a video emerged showing him when he was younger admitting that he has ‘no working class friends’.
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