Rishi’s post-statement photoshoot on Wednesday has already become notorious; as well as trying to scan his card with the barcode machine, he also borrowed a Sainsbury’s employee’s car to fill up after announcing the 5p cut to fuel duty. This should have been obvious to anyone watching – Yorkshireman Rishi would never be seen in anything other than a Range Rover…

As Rishi’s carefully crafted image becomes unstuck, Grant Shapps is quietly challenging him for the PR crown. Over the last month he’s released a series of well-made, entertaining videos for various DfT projects, including one with Michael Portillo. This morning he released a cowboy-western themed video to promote electric car charging, in which he can be seen pulling up in a £32,000 VW ID 3:

Like Rishi, however, the car featured is not his own – which Shapps has put on the record is a £44,000 Tesla Model 3. What is it about Cabinet Ministers using cheaper car understudies?