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Matthew Dresch & Aaron Morris

'Out of touch' Rishi Sunak blasted over 'no working class friends' in unearthed BBC clip

A young Rishi Sunak admitted that he had 'no working class friends' in a dated clip which has recently gone viral on social media. The video, which was taken from a 2001 BBC documentary, has resurfaced after Mr Sunak announced his intentions to run for Prime Minister following the stepping down of Boris Johnson last week.

The ex-Chancellor made the embarrassing remark during the BBC series 'Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl', which has recently came back to light. Sunak's parents were interviewed during the programme, with regards to their decision to send their kids to the prestigious boarding school, Winchester College.

In the clip, Mr Sunak says: "I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are working class... Well, not working class."

Read more: Next Prime Minister odds - Rishi Sunak favourite but Raab odds shorten

The Mirror reports that the Oxford University graduate claimed he was middle class - while also bragging about how one of his best friends studied at Eton. In the BBC clip, he says: "I mix and match and then I go to see kids from an inner city state school and tell them to apply for Oxford and talk to them about people like me.

"And then I shock them at the end of chatting to them for half an hour and tell them that I was at Winchester and one of my best friends is from Eton and whatever. And they are like 'oh, okay'."

Mr Sunak continues: "I am very lucky to have been at these places, it does put me in an elite in society. I always consider myself professional middle class, I don't think being Asian is a defining feature."

An unearthed video shows No. 10 hopeful Rishi Sunak admitting he has no working class friends (BBC)

The clip left many social media users gobsmacked. One person wrote: "No understanding of reality. How is this man going to deal with the #torycostoflivingcrisis when he doesn’t have a clue!"

Another, said: "Imagine having no working class friends. Unreal. I dunno why but I stupidly assumed that they at least knew normal people."

This comes after Mr Sunak was roundly mocked on social media after he reportedly borrowed a Sainsbury's worker's car to help him look like "a man of the people".

Sunak posed for photos promoting the Treasury's temporary fuel duty cut using said workers car earlier this year - after arranging a photo opportunity at a Sainsbury's forecourt. There he filled up a Kia Rio - worth £12,000 - and paid for the fuel himself.

However, he struggled to use his bank card to pay in an embarrassing moment at the pump - with a video clip showing this. As he raised his card to try and pay for the fuel and a can of Coke, he tried using the barcode scanner through the plastic screen - not realising it wasn't a card machine.

Mr Sunak is one of 11 Tory MPs to announce they are standing to be the party's next leader and Prime Minister. The other MPs who have said they will stand are Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman, Rehman Chishti, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Nadhim Zahawi.

It has been announced tonight by the party's 1922 Committee that the final result of the election will be announced on September 5. The first ballot will be staged on Wednesday.

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