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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Archie Mitchell

Rishi Sunak’s £32 Toby jug mocked for looking nothing like prime minister

Houses of Parliament Shop

A £32 Rishi Sunak Toby jug on sale at the House of Commons gift shop has been mocked online for looking nothing like the prime minister.

Social media users were left perplexed by the ceramic jug, with some saying it bore more resemblance to one of Mr Sunak’s predecessors, Gordon Brown.

Other commenters suggested the jug looked more like former BBC correspondent Jon Sopel or former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

A Toby Jug of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Houses of Parliament Shop)
— (PA Media)

The limited edition Rishi Sunak jug is part of the range made for all modern prime ministers, and follows others depicting Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.

Other PMs to be immortalised in mug form include Tony Blair, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

A Toby Jug of former Prime Minister Liz Truss (Houses of Parliament Shop)
— (Houses of Parliament Shop)

Responding to the 11cm jug, of which 1,500 will be made, internationalist campaign group Best for Britain said: “What is even happening?”

Last Augus,t figures showed 225 Toby jugs of Mr Johnson had been sold since 2019, compared to 157 of Mrs Thatcher and 154 for Mr Churchill.

The jugs are made in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and 1,500 have been made for each prime minister in the series.

Shoppers bought 64 Mr Johnsons in 2019/20, 69 in 2020/21, 77 in 2021/22 and 15 so far in the current financial year.

By contrast, 77 Theresa May Toby jugs were sold during her three years in power between 2016 and 2019.

The Conservative former prime minister was fourth on the latest list with 65 sales since 2019/20 followed by Labour’s Tony Blair on 64.

Labour post-war prime minister Clement Atlee sold 58 followed by 46 for Harold Wilson and Sir John Major on 40 – with David Cameron only managing 39 sales and Gordon Brown 34.

Neville Chamberlain was among the least popular prime ministerial Toby jugs over the same period, with 20 sold. Andrew Bonar Law, Ramsay MacDonald and Stanley Baldwin sold 10 each.

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