Conservative bother over Burnham's clobber

Whenever the clothing of women in politics is attacked – as the dress of Marie-France van Heel, Andy Burnham’s wife, was cruelly and unnecessarily when she appeared in Downing Street this week – the question is always asked: why does this never happen to men?

Now it’s finally been redressed (no pun intended), and in the most unlikely of places: on Conservative Home, the in-house journal of the Tory party’s most reliably out-there fruitloops and crackpots!

Regular columnist Sarah Ingham this week used her piece to lay into the new prime minister for his dress sense, suggesting that his outfits of dark t-shirts, bomber jackets and trendy Adidas trainers somehow make him unfit for high office.

“Like many politicians, Burnham hopes his Dress Down Everyday conveys relatable mateyness,” fumes Ingham to her readers. “It doesn’t.

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Rats in a Sack

“Given they want to confiscate voters’ money and boss them about non-stop, he should realise by now MPs, let alone PMs, are never regarded as mates. If he wanted to dress Manchester, he should have remained Manchester Mayor.

“With taxpayers picking up the tab for their salaries and expenses, the least MPs can do is show up to work looking professional. Too many Labour women in MPs are less Iron Lady and more bag lady.” Oh… it turns out she doesn’t like Labour women’s looks either.

“Women on the Starmer-era front bench might have all had the same hairdresser, but at least it made them look as if they took the job seriously – and ensured they were nothing like pre-makeover Louise Haigh,” she went on. “Perhaps she hoped the rhubarb hair would distract everyone from the admission of fraud.

“Recent industry figures suggest the UK fashion and textile industry contributes £62 billion to GDP, with £23 billion in tax revenues and employs 1.3 million people,” she added, as if Burnham popping a t-shirt on was about to bring the entire industry crashing to the ground. “Giorgia Meloni has no problem with being an ambassador for the Italian fashion industry.

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“Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg famously swapped his grey hoodie for a suit when he gave evidence to the US Congress in 2018. It was a gesture of respect not only to the senators who questioned him, but to their electorates.

“On Wednesday PM Burnham headed west to announce a £2 bus fare cap, reinstating a previous Conservative policy. He didn’t bother with a tie. The city and people of Bath were obviously judged not ‘exceptional’ enough. Such a move reveals a lot about Burnham’s approach to government.” Does it?

Who is Dr Sarah Ingham, by the way? For, despite having had a regular column for Conservative Home going back years, its bio for her only reads ‘Dr Sarah Ingham is the author of The Military Covenant: Its Impact on Civil–Military Relations in Britain’.

In 2019, she mocked David Cameron over the price of his memoirs, at £25. Her The Military Covenant is currently for sale on Amazon at an absolute snip: £164.84 for its 242 pages.