Another storm in a DD cup as David Davis mixes up top Tory women
HIS disastrous campaign to become Tory leader included women wearing tight ‘DD for me’ T-shirts – and now David Davis has been left red-faced after another boob.
The blundering former Brexit Secretary’s latest humiliation came when he confused Tory Minister Claire Perry with her colleague Caroline Nokes.
Both are high-flying Conservative women with brown hair who arrived in Westminster in 2010 and attend Cabinet meetings.
Mr Davis, 70, had sidled up to Energy Minister Ms Perry, 54, on Monday evening in the Commons tearoom to ask what she intended to say when closing the debate on the Government’s Immigration Bill. Unfortunately for him, it was Home Office Minister Ms Nokes, 46, who was due at the despatch box – leading to what one witness described as ‘an excruciating slap- down’ for Mr Davis by Ms Perry. ‘David let me help you. Caroline is a C cup and I am double D,’ she teased, causing Mr Davis to turn ‘ scarlet’ with embarrassment, according to MPs who witnessed the bizarre encounter.
To add to Mr Davis’s discomfort, Ms Perry continued: ‘I know the three of us only sat round the Cabinet table together for seven months, but it surely isn’t that hard to tell female Ministers apart?
‘ In my nine years in Westminster, I’ve learnt not to muddle up white-haired, hard-Right Tory Brexit rebels.’
And in a final playful dig, she walked away with a cheeky ‘Have a good night, Owen’ – referring to Mr Davis’s fellow Eurosceptic hard- liner Owen Paterson, who is also a silver- haired former Cabinet Minister. Mr Davis was left speech- less and The Mail on Sunday understands word of his humiliation has reached an amused Theresa May. One MP said of the encounter: ‘It was brutal. The whole place was in hysterics. You might say he made a bit of a boob of himself.’
Mr Davis sparked controversy in 2005 during a Tory leadership bid when buxom campaign aides wore pink T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan ‘It’s DD for me’.
He later said: ‘ All right, some people got upset by it. I am sorry about that. But it was a sense of humour failure.’
However, party grandees insisted t hat t he seedy sl ogan helped younger moderniser David Cameron become leader.
Last night, Ms Perry said: ‘I’m sure David made an honest mistake and probably regrets those dodgy T-shirts, but being able to tell colleagues apart seems like a pretty basic skill for any politician.’
Mr Davis did not respond to requests for comment last night.