adine Dorries has been told by fellow Conservative ministers to “twin her neck” after making “tasteless” and “dangerous” interventions on behalf of Liz Truss in the Tory leadership contest.
The culture secretary faced a backlash after writing a “divisive, unfair” column about why she had mocked Rishi Sunak about his expensive taste in clothes, and for retweeting an image of Mr Sunak being stabbed Boris Johnson in the back.
In the Mail on Sunday, Ms Dorries wrote that last week she “may have gone a bit over the top” by comparing the former millionaire’s £3,500 suit with the £4.50 earrings worn by Mrs Truss of the Claire’s chain of stores.
“I wanted to highlight Rishi’s misguided sartorial style to warn Tory members not to be grabbed by appearances like many of us who served in the Chancellor’s Cabinet,” she wrote.
“The killer’s gleaming smile, his soft voice, and even his small stature had fooled many of us.”
Ms Dorries accused Mr Sunak of traveling “on a path of betrayal” and planning a “Tudoresque” coup against the Prime Minister.
The culture minister, a staunch loyalist of Mr Johnson, also retweeted an image of him as Julius Caesar about to be stabbed by a knife-wielding Mr Sunak, suggesting the former chancellor had betrayed the prime minister when he resigned as chancellor.
minister of affairs Greg Hands condemned Mrs Dorries’ actions as “tasty” and “dangerous” in the wake of the murder of Southend West West MP Sir David Amess during an operation in a constituency in Essex last October.
He told Sky News: “I’m sure Liz Truss would reject this kind of behavior. I think this is terrible.
“Look, it’s been less than a year since Sir David Amess’ stabbing in his Southend constituency, so I think this is very, very bad taste, dangerous even.”
Mr Hands, who supports Mr Sunak in the race for number 10, added: “I find it distasteful”.
Welsh secretary sir Robert Bucklandanother supporter of Mr Sunak, also denounced Mrs Dorries’ behaviour.
“I think those kinds of images and stories are not just incendiary, it’s wrong,” he told BBC Radio Wales.
“I think it’s time for those who think arguing over things like Prada shoes or earrings is more important, raise their necks and let people talk about the issues rather than the personality.”
Senior Conservative MP Simon Hoare took to Twitter to criticize Ms Dorries.
“Your comments are divisive, unfair and disturbing. @trussliz needs to stop this. It is harmful to our party,” he said.
“We remember with respect our fallen colleagues David Amess and Jo Cox. The injured Stephen Timms. I’ll leave it at that.”