The former Chancellor and Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak has come under fire after a video resurfaced of him saying he had no working class friends.

The video comes from a 2001 BBC documentary called ‘Middle Classes: The Rise & Sprawl’ when Sunak’s parents were interviewed about why they sent him to £46,000 per year boarding school Winchester College.

In the clip the now Tory leadership-hopeful and Richmond MP was discussing his friendship circle and claimed to not have any working-class friends.

Read more: Treasury provides update on Darlington Economic Campus

He said: “I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are working class... Well, not working class.”

Sunak continued: "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'."

The Northern Echo has contacted Rishi Sunak’s office for a response to the video.

Read more: Ben Houchen urges next leader to level up the North East

The clip went viral on social media over the weekend after Mr Sunak announced he would be standing in the contest to be the next leader of the Conservative party and Prime Minister.

Sunak set out his campaign to be the next PM last week, saying he wants to “restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country”.

He has already won over the backing of some North East politicians including Darlington MP Peter Gibson and Redcar MP Jacob Young.

Read more: Conservative Leadership Contest: Who your MP is supporting

--

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054