To be a secret Tory voter and feel embarrassed about it?

You're a bit late.

If you hate the NHS, love sewage in the rivers, like your politicians with an extra side of corruption, incompetence and venality and want several more years of the country being ground down, sold off and an increase in equality while a small group of desperate people fleeing conflict are being scapegoated for Tory policies, then good for you. I would be proud of this fact and shout it out loud and vote locally for someone who supports this ethos of government.

At least Kami “the treasury is my personal bank account” Badenoch knows what a woman is? Right?

It kicked off way back with Steve Hilton, who was beautifully satirised as Stewart Pearson in The Thick of It.

He is a pound shop Enoch Powell, English nationalist. I agree, what he represents is hard right, but he has a simple ticket to pick up the disenfranchised. All his shiny gold buttoned blazers should not mean he is taken more seriously

I think the clothing criticism is actively wrong. If there is a defacto uniform that lends credibility to someone's words you can disguise all sorts of dangerous nonsense behind an 'acceptable' uniform and its message is lost. Nigel Farage is a case in point here. His branding (good suit, well designed literature etc) makes his party look mainstream but when you actually read the proposals, he's after a fascist police state.

For a time during the Cummings era it was not at all unusual to see special advisers wearing a manky t shirt, manky trainers, and terrible jeans. Surf bum or someone who had slept in their clothes? Who knows? But definitely not standard Tory man.

Dominic Cummings and Liam Booth-Smith both

A surf bum?

I understand @EasternStandard , but my job was to ensure the message got through. So the aim was always to look perfectly ordinary but perfect so the focus was on the message. Minimise the distractions. It is sad that the media will always focus on any distraction, so you can't offer any.

Westminster fashion has changed. Partly to do with COVID. People are more relaxed. And this can be a considerable power move. Being dressed like a surf bum while making big decisions is definitely a thing. If everyone else is wearing a suit then double points scored. Labour and Conservatives!

The point is it shouldn’t matter as long as dressed appropriately. As others have said there are more important things to judge our members of parliament on!

And one can’t escape the feeling that this “judging” is rather tribal in nature.

Uniformed men are a whole different ballgame @Champagnesocialismo .

The point @northernerinthesouth2000 is not that there are huge sums being spent on very expensive clothes. It is about buying well in the mid range. Nobody is mentioning the top designers here. This is high end high street, chosen well and probably tweaked to fit.

@Papyrophile i understand if you were a financial PR person this might feel more pertinent, but I think politicians should be able to be scrutinised on other stuff. I include all parties and there probably is a tendency on here to support or attack based on alliance

Plus I think what they are wearing is actually ok for their brief

.. well that’s ok then.

Still depressing..

No I don’t really follow other countries political figures and really that’s beside the point. It’s nice to be able to afford fabulous clothes but not everyone has been that fortunate and some peoples obsession with how politicians and their partners dress is quite depressing and unnecessary. As long as people are dressed appropriately it really shouldn’t matter wtf they wear. Angela Raynor probably spent a while picking that outfit and I’m sure she felt amazing in it. Then to have people pick it over for very trivial things must be upsetting! Although I bet she’s learn to shrug it off.

I'm judging the men too @ExtraOnions

The Italian policeman directing the traffic looks better and has a better suit on than any British politician @Papyrophile

Politics sometimes termed rock n roll for ugly people. Which is a bit harsh but overall appearance is a limiting factor.

There are some interesting messages re Starmer. Special relatable Dad kit during the election. Black suit red tie (Tories wear navy or royal blue in Westminster). All very not Westminster and probably deliberate

Women eh .. still judging other women on their clothes, how completely depressing.

And while you might not be able to see the difference between M&S and Savile Row, any 1960s mod could see it.

Do you follow French/Spanish/Italian politics at all @northernerinthesouth2000 and @Champagnesocialismo ? Look at the clothing. It fits, mostly flatters the body wearing it, and is relatable. It's a better cut version of my mostly Uniqlo and M&S wardrobe. Only in the UK is looking like an unmade bed regarded as intellectual. SKS has got his clothing perfect. Just by ditching white shirts for anything except the most formal occasions. His campaigning shirts have all been dark blue and open necked. It's relatable.

It doesn’t bother me tbh and I like S&B generally

I quite like the idea it can be a bit more M&S if that’s the term being used

Look, I remember being appalled by a cabinet minister’s dandruff on the District Line. It encrusted a good suit. But the effect was lost

But it is pernicious and we need to do better as a society! I understand what you are staying about first impressions but most people would not recognise a suit from a Savile Row tailor or one from M&S. As long they are clean and ready to do business it really does not matter where the suit is from for the vast majority of ordinary people!

Now I do disagree on that one. The fact is there are political people who look like a bag of hammers or their suit barely fits or they have a hump or a set of teeth that could grace a piano. Politics is about delivery. And that is how we judge them

Sadly, people form first impressions with their eyes. So it is vital, in public life, to look right/appropriate/serious. Because if you don't, their ears will already have closed to your message.