First it was Theresa May, strutting on stage at the 2018 Tory party conference to a recording to Abba’s Dancing Queen. Liz Truss repeated the routine in Birmingham as she walked on stage to Moving On Up by 1990s pop group M People.

But the co-writer of the song was less than impressed. Mike Pickering, a regular critic of the Conservatives and Brexit on social media, said after the Prime Minister’s speech that he “didn’t want my song being a soundtrack to lies”.

He said the band members were “livid” and had sought legal advice, but were told there was little they could do about it.

The choice of song also failed to put a smile on concerned Tories because of lyrics such as: “You’ve done me wrong, your time is up. You took a sip from the devil’s cup. You broke my heart, there’s no way back. Move right out of here, baby, go on pack your bags.”

Furthermore, M People singer Heather Small’s son James Small-Edwards was elected as a Labour councillor for Bayswater, west London, in May.

He tweeted: “An apt choice! This tired and out of touch Tory government is indeed moving on out.”

The song was personally chosen by Ms Truss as her walk-on music, according to her press secretary, apparently because it chimed with the conference slogan, Getting Britain Moving. He said: “There was a range of options and she chose that one.”

See: Liz Truss speech