Starmer and Badenoch’s lunchtime sandwich split-OxBig News Network

Some voters complain that politicians are all the same but now a clear difference has emerged between the two main party leaders.

In an interview with The Spectator, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Lunch is for wimps. I have food bought in and I work and eat at the same time.

“There’s no time… sometimes I will get a steak… I’m not a sandwich person. I don’t think sandwiches are a real food, it’s what you have for breakfast.”

Asked about her comments, No 10 said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer viewed sandwiches as a “great British institution”.

“I think he was surprised to hear that the leader of the opposition has a steak brought in for lunch.

“The prime minister is quite happy with a sandwich lunch.”

The spokesman added that Starmer “enjoys a tuna sandwich, and occasionally a cheese toastie”.

Responding to the dig, Badenoch wrote on social media: “The PM has time to respond to my jokes about lunch… but no time for the farmers who produce our food.”

Badenoch is not alone in her deep dislike of sandwiches.

Earlier this month, actor Anna Maxwell Martin told The Sun: “If I’m on a set and sandwiches are brought on — it’s hard for me to even say that word — I’d have to say ‘get that out’.”

Scrutiny of their food preferences can lead some politicians into a state of indecision.

In 2009, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown dodged repeated questions from parenting website Mumsnet about his favourite biscuit. He later said he liked “anything with a bit of chocolate”.

In 1979, Margaret Thatcher adopted a diet consisting of 28 eggs a week to help fuel her successful general election campaign.

She also used food as a diplomatic tool, refusing to allow a break for dinner at a European Council meeting until a decision had been made.

Rishi Sunak sometimes abstained from food altogether, telling the BBC that fasting once a week was “an important discipline for me”.

“It means that I can then indulge myself in all the sugary treats I like for the rest of the week.”