Mandrake hears that Penny Mordaunt’s nickname around the corridors of power is “the Admiral” on account of her habit of dressing up in naval uniform.
Mordaunt, who bowed out of the race to become prime minister on Monday, is compared in some circles to the bicorn hat-wearing animated character voiced by Sally Phillips in adverts for the Admiral insurance company.
Mordaunt, daughter of a paratrooper, signed up as a Royal Naval Reservist in 2010, was made an honorary commander in 2019 and later became an honorary captain. Yet she has never served on an operational deployment, qualified or been commissioned as an officer, despite Tory MP George Freeman’s claim some years ago that she had “fought in the Navy”.
