South Swindon MP Robert Buckland suggested that his cabinet colleague Nadine Dorries might "wind her neck in" as the Conservative party leadership race heats up.

Sir Robert - the Welsh secretary in Boris Johnson’s recently reshuffled cabinet - has given his backing to former chancellor Rishi Sunak. Ms Dorries - the digital, culture, media and sport secretary - is a strong supporter of Liz Truss.

She came under criticism for a column she wrote mocking Mr Sunak for his expensive clothes and for retweeting an image altered to show Mr Sunak as Brutus stabbing Mr Johnson as Julius Caesar in the back.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Ms Dorries said she “may have gone slightly over the top” last week by comparing the millionaire former chancellor’s £3,500 suit to Ms Truss’s £4.50 earrings from high street chain Claire’s.

“I wanted to highlight Rishi’s misguided sartorial style in order to alert Tory members not to be taken in by appearances in the way that happened to many of us who served with the chancellor in cabinet,” she wrote.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales Sir Robert said her rhetoric was damaging and divisive.

He said: “I think that sort of imagery and narrative is not just incendiary, it’s wrong.”

“I think it’s time for those who think that an argument about Prada shoes or earrings is more important, for instance, should wind their neck in and let people talk about the issues rather than the personality.”