Other Tory ministers condemned Liz Truss supporter Dorries’ comments about Sunak’s dress sense – comparing his Savile Row suit to Truss’ Claire’s earrings. One suggested it was deeply provocative for her to tweet the image of Sunak stabbing Johnson, in a parody of Julius Caesar, given that two MPs had recently been murdered. The culture secretary, one of Johnson’s closest allies, retweeted an image depicting him as Julius Caesar about to be stabbed by a knife-wielding Sunak, a parody of his resignation that led to the prime minister. Business Secretary Greg Hants said the image was inappropriate, especially given the killing of Southend West Tory MP Sir David Ames at a constituency surgery in Essex last October. “I’m sure Liz Truss will stand against this kind of behaviour. I think that’s appalling,” Hands told Sky News. “Look, it’s not even a year since Sir David Amess was stabbed in his election intervention in Southend, so I think this is very, very bad taste, even dangerous… I find it unpleasant.” The Welsh Secretary, Sir Robert Buckland, who is also backing Sunak, told BBC Radio Wales that “the kind of imagery and narrative is not just inflammatory, it’s wrong”. “It’s time for those who think a controversy over Prada shoes or earrings is more important, for example, to stick their necks out and let people talk about the issues rather than the personality.” Simon Hoare, the chairman of the Northern Ireland select committee, tweeted that it was “utterly tasteless. Rough and tasteless. Beneath the dignity of office… We remember, with respect, our fallen colleagues David Amess and Jo Cox. The injured Steven Timms. I’ll just leave it there.” Former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis, a supporter of Truss, said he did not believe the Foreign Secretary would support the comments. He told Sky News: “It’s definitely not something I would put on Twitter… Nadine is known for having strong opinions on things. Nadine speaks for herself, she is very special about it. But that’s not a position Liz would take.” Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Dorris said she “may have gone a bit over the top” with her tweet comparing the chancellor’s suit and Prada shoes to Truss’s budget earrings. “I wanted to highlight Rishi’s misguided style to warn Tory members not to be swayed by appearances as happened to many of us who served with the chancellor in cabinet,” he wrote. “The killer’s bright smile, soft voice and even his small stature had many of us well and truly fooled.” He said the former chancellor had “travelled down a path of betrayal and in doing so is unlikely to win the hearts and minds of members of the Conservative party because, above all, they value loyalty and decency”. Those comments also sparked outrage from Sunak’s supporters, including MP Kevin Hollinrake, who tweeted that “there have been several resignations, including a Foreign Secretary in front of the Chancellor… 55 resignations in the next day or so, including self-sponsored ones the leadership … Have you forgotten how Boris got to the top? Rightly or wrongly, there are always limits to loyalty.” Dorris has been approached for comment.