A working class University of Oxford student has hit out after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner was criticised for wearing a £550 outfit.
The Labour cabinet member was pictured entering Downing Street on Friday wearing a mint green suit from luxury British designer clothing brand ME+EM.
Priced at £225 for the wool-blend trousers and a further £325 for the cotton blazer, Ms Rayner’s outfit totalled £550.
This prompted cynicism online with some pointing to how the Stockport-born politician is often referred to as a representative of the working class.
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Angela Rayner at 10 Downing Street on Friday. (Image: PA)
GB News political commentator Alex Armstrong said: “Angela Rayner is a working class hero.
“Also Rayner: ‘Yeah £550 quid on that, I’ll look mint.”
Mr Armstrong’s comments prompted a backlash of their own though as people argued that Ms Rayner can spend her own money how she likes.
Independent writer Jason Reid wrote a tongue-in-cheek post on X and said: “If you are working class you must never have anything nice, be utterly miserable all the time, and dress in a hessian sack.”
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This sentiment was backed up by University of Oxford student Chloe Pomfret who studies Human Sciences at undergraduate level.
The 20-year-old co-chairs Class Act Oxford which is a campaign for working-class, low-income, first-gen, state-comp educated students, care leavers and estranged students at the university.
“I was invited to Parliament this year and used some of my savings to buy a brand new outfit,” said Miss Pomfret.
“It was a special occasion. I never thought I'd experience this so I wanted to treat myself.
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University of Oxford student Chloe Pomfret. (Image: Chloe Pomfret)
“Stop telling working class people how to spend their own money.”
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