A new minister posed wearing a £10,000 Rolex watch hours before Number 10 boasted she was an example of diversity in Rishi Sunak’s posh Cabinet.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, the fifth person to hold the job in four months, proudly displayed the flashy timepiece in a photograph tweeted out to mark her appointment.
It was identified by watch buff Rory Broomfield on Twitter as a Rolex Lady-Datejust 31 Everose in two-tone gold and steel, with a chocolate diamond dial on a smooth bezel, with a Jubilee bracelet.
Downing Street today hit back at criticism after Rishi Sunak announced his Cabinet, almost two thirds of whom attended private school, nine times the number in the general population.
Some 45% of Mr Sunak's cabinet went to Oxford or Cambridge, more than double the average for all MPs.
But the PM’s press secretary singled out Ms Keegan, who attended a state school and benefited from an apprenticeship, as an example of diversity in his top team.
She said: "The newly appointed education Secretary, for example, went to a comprehensive school, benefited from an apprenticeship scheme."
As well as owning costly wristwear, Ms Keegan and her husband Michael own a flat in London, a holiday home near Mont Blanc in southeast France, and a third home in Nueva Andelucia in southern Spain, according to Parliament records.
Last month, Mr Keegan agreed to change his role on the board of IT firm Centerprise International, after it was revealed the firm had benefited from £35 million of government contracts.
The Cabinet Office and the firm both said Mr Keegan played no role in awarding contracts to suppliers.
But the Government said he had “agreed to remove himself from any conversations regarding bidding for public sector contracts".
Ms Keegan has also accepted honorary membership of Cowdray Park Polo Club and Chichester Yacht Club.
