Rishi Sunak appears anxious to burnish his fashionista credentials in the latest polished piece of content the Chancellor has attempted to make his trademark.
On the eve of the Budget, the Treasury published a series of photographs of the Chancellor preparing for the big day.
The pictures included one of a Twix bar and a cans of Sprite (his fuel of choice), another with his dog Nova, while the most commented on appeared to be a scene involving the Chancellor standing next to an aide while sporting socks and sliders.
What caught the attention of many was the Palm Angels’ frootwear’s £95 price tag.
It’s not the first time Sunak’s pre-Budget photos have raised eyebrows.
On the eve of his summer statement to parliament, the Chancellor was pictured with a £180 “supermug”.
On his desk was the Ember Travel Mug, reportedly a gift from his wife, Akshata Murthy, the daughter of a billionaire businessman, which retails for up to £179.95 online.
As with the expensive mug, the sliders are likely to be seized on by critics as evidence of a politician out of step with the public.
Indeed, his critics said his choice of footwear was less important than policies hitting the worst-off – notably the cut to the Universal Credit uplift.
Labour MP Wes Streeting said: “I don’t care if the Chancellor chooses to spend £95 of his money on a pair of flip-flops, but I do care that he’s so out of touch that he doesn’t understand the impact of taking £20 a week off low-paid workers and what it means for 200,000 kids pushed into poverty by his policy.”