The feet of power

Are we talking summer shoe trends? I’ve just bought some ballet flats.

Well, for heaven’s sake don’t tell Rishi Sunak.

Is he introducing a tax on 90s-inspired footwear? No, but he might buy a pair.

Pardon?

The PM is the grim reaper of fashion. Just look at the death of the wannabe-cool-kid trainers he wore during an Instagram interview. What was he thinking?

I think you’ll find he was thinking about the cut to national insurance contributions.

Young voters weren’t – they were drowning in the tears running off their discarded Adidas Sambas.

Do people really care that much?

Writer Ed Cumming summed up the national mood in a tweet viewed 1.5 million times: ‘Thinking of the Adidas Samba community at this difficult time’.

So, the cool kids really have disowned the Pm-approved style? Completely. Journalist Lauren O’neill confirmed the death in a tweet from the hipster front line: ‘distinct lack of Sambas on the Peckham to Dalston overground this morning… sense of fear and uncertainty in the air…’

Anyway, at least there’s no danger to my ballet flats. You say that…

I don’t think Sunak’s likely to convene the next Cobra meeting in a pair of designer slip-ons.

The option’s always open to him.

Are you suggesting the fashion houses should start

RISHI SUNAK IS THE GRIM REAPER OF FASHION

making ballet flats for men? They already do.

Next, you’ll be telling me they do Mary Janes.

Correct. Loewe’s mule version in calfskin would set the PM back £925; and Harry Styles has been wearing Gucci MJS for ages.

I’m confident Sunak would draw the line at a T-bar. Thing is, he’s got previous in the ‘pushing the footwear envelope’ department. I refer you to 2021’s disastrous socks ‘n’ sliders experiment.

Surely we can allow the man a casual pool shoe.

Not when he’s preparing for the budget!

I’ve read that loafers are back. Maybe those would work better for him. Edgier than a lace-up. A look that says: ‘I’m fun but I’m also in control of my immigration policy’.

With or without?

With or without what? Socks.

I’d say ‘without’. Rishi Sunak strikes me as the kind of guy who’s not averse to a bit of shoe-troversy. One thing’s certain – readers of The Telegraph won’t stand for it.

Are they a notably sockreactive voter demographic? An article reporting that searches for men’s loafers are up 101 per cent at John Lewis (featuring a shot of actor Andrew Scott wearing his with feet au naturel) revealed some very strong feelings on the matter.

Such as…

A reader (‘Suffolk Farmer’) was absolutely clear about the kind of people who buy loafers but not the appropriate hosiery.

And those people would be… Americans, footballers, reality TV stars and ‘those who haven’t been brought up properly’.

Then I doubt they were fans of Sunak’s Adidas Sambas either. Exactly. ‘There is absolutely nothing stylish about wearing gym shoes when not doing PE,’ ranted one Bill Palmer, adding ‘You would not wear flippers or running spikes to go to luncheon.’

Although I’d love to see Sunak try the flippers.

Another unimpressed individual wrote: ‘All trainers look like trainers. Why anyone thinks they look cool is a mystery.’

Given the current state of political play, shouldn’t the PM’S supporters be focusing on disaster at the polls rather than below his ankles?

Most of them will want to avoid being too critical.

Because you shouldn’t kick a man when he’s down? No, because you shouldn’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his Mary Janes.

TREAD CAREFULLY: THE PM HAS SOUNDED THE DEATH KNELL FOR ONCE HIP ADIDAS SAMBAS

LOEWE MEN’S MJS PACE THE PARIS CATWALK