do I get forced to add a primary tag here – that is the question!

Something cataclysmic happened to the girlies last Thursday afternoon: Rishi Sunak wore a pair of Adidas Sambas during an interview promoting his tax policies. The year’s coolest trainer was instantly and irrevocably tainted. I looked down at the pair on my feet with a sense of deep embarrassment and a strong urge to launch the shoes into the nearest skip.

Over the weekend, wearing Sambas outside felt much like stepping out with a “Keep calm and vote Tory” badge pinned to your lapel. By Monday, pairs were rapidly vanishing from the streets of London: “Distinct lack of Sambas on the Peckham to Dalston overground this morning,” one person Tweeted. “Sense of fear and uncertainty in the air.”

A trainer hasn’t had such a violent vibe shift since Kate Middleton started wearing Vejas last autumn. Still, it’s actually kind of worse for your wardrobe to identify as a Conservative than a Royalist. “Your arse is so cooked,” one friend Whatsapped me as momentum gained and memes of Rishi wearing oversized jeans and Adidas covered the Twitter/X timeline.