Rishi Sunak blasted as 'insipid creature' by ex-Thatcher minister

He opened up in an exclusive interview with GB News, during which he revealed what life was like working with Margaret Thatcher.

And he hilariously revealed how he bought his Spitting Image dummy - only to later throw it in the bin.

Speaking to Gloria De Piero, Mellor hinted the Prime Minister could benefit from being a bit more like the Iron Lady.

He said: “I was her youngest minister for four years and I was in her Government for nine years. But I didn't worship Margaret Thatcher, she wasn't an easy person to work with, or work for, and on occasions she would quite lose it.

“I remember one time at a cocktail party, she literally pinned me up against the wall and told me I I was letting her down on certain things. It never bothered her that she was letting a lot of us down by being extremely disloyal.

“She expected higher standards of others than she ever devoted herself to. But she believed in something with a passion and she worked it. And when I look at some of these insipid, I'm trying to just look for parliamentary words, these insipid creatures that have replaced her.

"I mean, you know, look at Rishi Sunak, I'm sure he is a very clever guy and the rest of it. But where's Margaret Thatcher in Rishi Sunak? Maybe Mrs. Sunak knows, but I certainly don't.”

Asked if he would ever U-turn on his decision to leave the Tories he said: “No, I wouldn't rejoin the Conservative party. I left when Iain Duncan Smith became Leader because Iain Duncan Smith, when he was in his original form, was very right wing and actually very difficult with John Major and so on.

"And suddenly he sort of decides, sniffs the air, feels where the wind is blowing and suddenly becomes some sort of liberal sort charmer. And I just, I can't bear people like that.

“He's not very bright, is he? I mean, when he was doing the pensions job, I don't think he understood it. And I, by the way, I don't claim to be brilliantly bright. But I don't think he understood a lot of what he was trying to do.”

Meanwhile, Mellor also admitted how he snapped up his Spitting Image dummy - but wasn’t impressed at his purchase.

He said: “My wife said to me, one of your puppets is coming up for auction, we have to buy it because we can't let anyone else have it.

"We bought it and the bloody thing fell to pieces within a week. It was so tattily made. So it went into a dustbin.

"I cannot disclose which dustbin, but it went into a dustbin.”

The full interview is broadcast on Sunday July 23 on GB News from 6pm