Tory candidates disagree on pants

Hear the answers

After weeks of detailed grilling on policy, the Tory leadership candidates have finally given a brief reply.

Asked that most intimate of sartorial questions - what kind of underpants they prefer - David Davis and David Cameron revealed a crucial difference.

Mr Cameron - the self-styled "change candidate" - admitted, during quickfire questions on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, that he liked "boxers".

Mr Davis, an ex-SAS reservist, opted for the more traditional briefs.

'Blondes or brunettes?'

Woman's Hour presenter Martha Kearney said she had been "dared to ask" the question, which followed half an hour on policies aimed at attracting more female voters.

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The rivals were also quizzed on whether they preferred "blondes or brunettes".

An abashed Mr Davis replied: "Blondes. Having said that, my wife's brunette."

Mr Cameron did not reply.

Both men said they liked the British band Coldplay more than the Scissor Sisters, from the US.

But the pair were split over their favourite tipple, with Mr Davis going for lager and Mr Cameron beer.

The boxers or briefs revelation is not the first time underwear choices - true or fictional - have entered the political mainstream.

During the 1990s, Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell depicted prime minister John Major wearing Y-fronts over his trousers.

At this year's Labour Party conference, a group of men protested in their pants on Brighton beach after losing their pensions through a company bankruptcy.

And, just a few weeks ago, former Coronation Street actor Adam Rickitt - who has modelled in his underpants in magazines - was chosen for the Tories' own "approved" list for parliamentary candidates.