In their final head-to-head debate last Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer clashed over taxes, immigration, and gender. Both men were dressed similarly, wearing dark worsted suits with crisp, spread collar dress shirts and silken neckties in the colours of their political parties. It has been said that, ideologically speaking, you can barely place a cigarette paper between the two candidates, but in terms of fashion, there was one clear difference – proportion.
While the cut of Starmer’s suit was conventional, Sunak wore his usual shrunken silhouette as he battled to turn things around in what’s predicted to be an apocalyptic defeat on 4 July. By Murray Clark How politicians dress shouldn’t matter. But their clothing choices can shape narratives and public perceptions in a way that gathers momentum.
An accusation levelled at Sunak throughout the campaign has been that he is out of touch with the average voter, something that the cut of his suit – which invariably makes him look like a fintech magnate going through a midlife crisis – has only reinforced. When he was Chancellor, keen-eyed observers noticed Sunak enjoyed wearing Everlane hoodies and £95 designer slides from the Italian streetwear label Palm Angels. “I’m not a regular chancellor; I’m a cool chancellor,” Olivia Petter joked in The Independent .
After Sunak became Prime Minister, more stories about his upscale taste appeared. “The Devil Wears Prad.
