Conservative MPs condemned the “divisive, disingenuous and disturbing” interventions against Rishi Sunak by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, including a tweet showing Sunak brandishing a knife at Boris Johnson.
Other Conservative ministers condemned Liz Truss supporter Dorris’s comments about Sunak’s dress sense after she compared his Savile Row suit to Truss’ earrings from Claire’s.
One suggested it was deeply provocative for her to tweet the image of Sunak stabbing Johnson in a parody of Julius Caesar, given that two MPs had recently been killed.
The culture secretary, one of Johnson’s closest allies, retweeted an image depicting him as Julius Caesar about to be stabbed by Sunak with a knife, a parody of his resignation that brought down the prime minister.
Business Minister Greg Hands said the photo was inappropriate, particularly given the killing of Southend West Tory MP Sir David Ames during an operation in an Essex constituency last October.
“I’m sure Liz Truss would disapprove of such behaviour. I think it’s appalling,” Hands told Sky News. “Look, it’s not even a year since Sir David Ames was stabbed in his surgery in Southend, so I think it’s very, very bad taste, dangerous even… I find it unpleasant.”
Welsh Minister Robert Buckland, who also supports Sunak, told BBC Radio Wales that “the kind of imagery and narrative is not just inflammatory, it’s wrong”. He said: “It’s time those who think the controversy over Prada shoes or earrings is more important, for example, should hang their necks and let people talk about the issues, not the personality.”
Simon Hoare, the chairman of the Electoral Commission for Northern Ireland, tweeted that it was “utterly, utterly tasteless. Gross and tasteless. Beneath the dignity of service… To remember with respect our fallen colleagues David Ames and Jo Cox. The injured Steven Timms. I’ll just leave it there.”
Former Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, a supporter of Truss, said he did not think the Foreign Secretary would back the comments. He told Sky News: “It’s certainly not the kind of thing I would tweet… Nadine is well known for having strong views on things. Nadine speaks for herself, she is very individual in this regard. But that’s not a position Liz would take.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Dorris said she “may have gone a bit overboard” with her tweet, comparing the chancellor’s suit and Prada shoes to Truss’ budget earrings.
“I wanted to highlight Rishi’s faulty tailoring to warn Tory members not to fall for appearances in the way that happened to many of us who served with the Chancellor in the Cabinet,” she wrote. “The killer’s brilliant smile, his gentle voice and even his diminutive stature fooled many of us.”
She said the former chancellor “has embarked on a path of treason and is therefore unlikely to win the hearts and minds of Conservative Party members because they value loyalty and decency above all else”.
Those comments also drew the ire of Sunak’s supporters, including MP Kevin Hollinrake, who tweeted that there had been “a number of resignations, including Secretary of State to the Chancellor … 55 resignations in the next day or so, including self-nominated leadership … Have you forgotten how Boris made his way to the top? Right or wrong, loyalty always has limits.’
An ally of Dorries said: “This is clearly a satirical image of Brutus and Caesar which has clearly been photoshopped to provide political commentary. There were similar cartoons with the participation [Michael] Gove in 2016. Some people will, of course, want to be deliberately offended.”
Doris has been reached for comment.
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