Mail Creeps Out Liz Kendall

One hates to keep pointing out to Toby Perkins, Mark Ferguson and the rest of her team that Labour leadership hopeful Liz Kendall is becoming desperate, but she does appear to be becoming desperate, having given the Mail On Sunday’s less than totally benign political editor Simon Walters an interview in which Walters asks the kind of questions he would not be asking Andy Burnham or Jeremy Corbyn.

Should have kept the MoS at arms length, too

And what kind of questions would those be, perchance? “Speaking to The Mail on Sunday at her Westminster office in the most outspoken and candid interview she has given during the leadership contest”, as the MoS told, “Kendall revealed she buys her clothes from two of Kate Middleton’s favourite high street stores … power-dressing Blairite … Kendall never expected to be the Blairite torch-bearer”. Do go on.

“It was thrust into her elegant hand when Chuka Umunna stood down … Kendall maintains her lithe figure by jogging 20 miles a week. On Saturday nights she loves to dance to rap music at discos with friends. When I arrived for the interview she was still getting ready: ‘Hold on, just putting on some lippy.’ She is wearing emerald green suede high heels from L.K. Bennett. I ask how much they cost”. Do you now. Do you.

“‘About £100 I think.’ The L.K. Bennett website says they are £195.Her jacket, navy blue ‘vest’ and trousers are from Reiss. L.K. Bennett and Reiss are two of the Duchess of Cambridge’s favourite fashion brands – and slinky brunette Liz, or Elizabeth Louise, to give her full Royal-sounding Christian names, looks as good in them as slinky brunette Kate. In fact she looks the same weight as the Duchess – about 8st – though when I ask she slaps me down with a raucous ‘f*** off!’, adding quickly: ‘Don’t print that’”.

In case anyone thought this patronising crap was in any way accidental, there is also a photo caption that reads “The key to Kendall chic: With her habit of using the same shops as the Duchess of Cambridge the Liz look isn't cheap. The prices for her interview outfit are: LK Bennett shoes £195, Reiss jacket £225 (£95 in sale), Reiss trousers £120, Reiss v-neck tank top £30. Total £570 (£440 in sale)”.

Er, this is irrelevant, right? I couldn’t give a flying foxtrot what Liz Kendall, or Yvette Cooper, or indeed Theresa May, Nicky Morgan, Justine Greening or any of the many female MPs spends on their attire, or indeed where they choose to spend it. It’s got bugger all to do with whether they do their jobs well, badly, or indifferently.

But what does concern me is a supposedly serious mainstream journalist making creepy comments like “elegant hand”, “lithe figure”, “slinky brunette”, and implying that Ms Kendall’s weight is somehow relevant to her leadership potential. In any case, how much does Walters weigh? Has he though about jogging 20 miles a week in order to remove the odd belly or three? If he has, he will be able to jog on, then.

And that is what Liz Kendall and her team should have told the leering SOB.