THE PM’s ex policy guru has lashed out at his former boss for bullying Jeremy
Corbyn over his scruffy dress sense.
David Cameron tore into the Labour leader at Prime Minister’s Questions in
February, sneering: “I know what my mother would say. I think she’d look
across the dispatch box and she’d say: put on a proper suit, do up your tie
and sing the national anthem.”
The attack drew roars of laughter and shouts of “more” from the Tory
backbenches. But the PM’s ex “blue sky thinker”, who helped change the
Tories’ “nasty party” image, branded the onslaught as “incredibly
unattractive”.
Steve Hilton, a notoriously scruffy dresser himself padding around No10 in his
socks and t-shirt, told the Guardian: “What I really hated about the
reaction to Corbyn at the very beginning was this immediate, very bullying
ganging-up by the political establishment to say: this guy is not doing it
the way we are used to doing it; he’s not wearing a tie; he’s not
reshuffling his cabinet in the way we’re used to doing it.”
He added: “I thought it was incredibly unattractive.”
The Islington MP is often mocked for his “geography teacher” dress sense, Mr
Bean-style outfits and his 1980s Wilson shell suit that he wears on weekends
to run errands.
Mr Cameron’s ex policy chief said there was much to admire about the hard-left
leader’s “kinder, gentler politics”, though he doubted Mr Corbyn was up to
the task of winning a general election.
READ MORE:
Corbyn
puts aside life-long republicanism to wish the Queen a happy 90th birthday
Jeremy
Corbyn says David Cameron is ‘jealous’ of his style after Commons attack
What
would your mother say? Cameron and Corbyn bring their mums into PMQs battle
He said: “The point of being leader of the opposition is that it’s quite a
tough job, in terms of pure management. It’s not easy, and I think that’s
where he’s coming unstuck.
“But that kind of impulse of really representing a break with the way things
are done is something I really share.”
Mr Hilton, a long-time friend of the PM’s, was well-known in Westminster
circles for his unorthodox style, calling Mr Cameron “Dave “ and greeting
President Obama without shoes on.