Tory MP accused of ‘misogyny' after mocking woman’s ‘orange’ skin

Former Tory minister Brendon Clarke-Smith is being accused of "misogyny" after he mocked Lauren Howells, a Labour First and Labour to Win organiser, for her "orange" skin.

On Christmas Day (25 December), Howells took to her Twitter to share an image of herself at her boyfriend's family's house.

She held a Christmas card in one hand while the other made a thumbs-down gesture.

The card was a holiday greeting for a "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year," sent by Conservative MP Jill Mortimer.

"Just found this on the shelf in boyfriend's family home, Christmas ruined," she captioned the post.

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In another tweet on Monday (26 December), Howells clarified that the post was a "joke."

"I feel like I should take this opportunity to confirm that this is a joke and my Christmas was not actually ruined by a Christmas card from my MP at my boyfriend's house… immediately obvious to most but clearly not to some," she wrote.

And on the same day, Clarke-Smith presumably didn't get the joke and took to his Twitter to poke at her skin colour.

"Orange with rage," the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw.

Howells ended up responding to Clarke-Smith's tweet with the perfect response.

"From an actual Tory MP

"It's clearly a joke mate, misogyny isn't," Howells wrote.

She also shared another tweet noting that the colour of her makeup is not orange.

"Also, it's not orange it's a Hollywood glow," she quipped, sharing a screenshot of the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter complexion booster.

People took to Twitter to slam Clarke-Smith's sentiments.

One person wrote: "An actual MP coming out with this bile. You're a disgrace to your constituents."

"I cannot begin to describe how dreadful this tweet is. Women's engagement, especially with young women, is at an all-time low. Mocking a young woman's appearance just because you don't agree with her is Labour-level tactics. Would you mock one of your own activists?" another added.

A third wrote: "Brendan, mocking someone's appearance is not a good look. Please reflect and delete this. You can be better than this."

Clarke-Smith was formerly an Under Secretary of State (Minister for Children and Families) at the Department for Education from July 2022 to September 2022.

And in December 2019, he became the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw.

Indy100 reached out to Clarke-Smith for comment.

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