A privileged solicitor has sparked outrage after boasting about hosting a themed ‘council estate dinner’ party – complete with Fray Bentos pies, turkey dinosaurs and spam fritters.
Sophie Murgatroyd was branded ‘tone deaf’ and ‘insensitive’ after sharing details of the meal on social media, where she wrote: ‘I love cooking for my friends… the theme of tonight’s meal was ‘council estate dinner’.
The lawyer, 35, who lives near affluent Knutsford in Cheshire, and once told how she was given her first horse at the age of three, also served up chicken dippers, potato waffles, crispy pancakes, smiley faces, baked beans and oven chips.
Dessert was left to her guests and included Viennetta ice cream, spotted dick with custard and ginger cake – with drinks of Sunny Delight and Buck’s fizz.
Ms Murgatroyd, who describes herself as running ‘a different kind of law firm’, posted an image of the get-together on LinkedIn.
Inviting comment, the equine lawyer asked: ‘Do you think we missed anything? A classic?’ along with the hashtag: ‘I need a Rennie’.
But she subsequently deleted the post after a backlash from followers, who branded the theme ‘derogatory’ and ‘very unkind’.
One described it as a ‘pretty tasteless post – and I am not talking about the food’.
Beverley Borkowski, chief people officer at a care homes group, remarked: ‘This is tone deaf. It’s 80’s tea-time classic at best, no need for the label.’
‘Council estate meals sounds so demeaning to people living there,’ wrote mental health assessor Rose-Marie Macintyre.
‘Some people who have mortgages cant even afford those foods,’ she added.
Actuary Richard Shaw added: ‘I think you will find the food you describe is not unique to any one social demographic.
‘Rather insulting to those families who provide healthy meals for their children.’
Ms Murgatroyd qualified as a solicitor in 2017 and runs her own firm Law by Sophie, while also working as a make-up artist.
Her privileged upbringing appears to have offered little in the way of first-hand experience of life on a council estate.
Ms Murgatroyd grew up on her parents’ farm near Harrogate, North Yorks, and was given her first horse, called Twinkle, aged three.
In an interview with lifestyle magazine Cheshire Life in 2018, she told how making sure there was room for her horses was a priority when house hunting.
She said: ‘Yes, the house could have been an absolute palace but if it didn’t have room for stables, then it just didn’t cut the mustard.
‘I cannot live without horses and while my Cheshire friends are very kind and let me ride gorgeous horses… it will be fantastic to have horses living with me once again.’
Her website meanwhile states: ‘Sophie certainly does things differently and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She has gained a large social media following and you will often see her discussing important subjects in the hope of achieving awareness and change.
‘In particular, she is very passionate about changing the archaic nature of the legal system and law firms generally.’
Ms Murgatroyd’s legal colleagues were equally scathing on industry blog Roll On Friday, which first reported her dinner party post.
‘Unbelievably out of touch and an embarrassment to the profession,’ wrote one.
Another said: ‘Poshos mocking working class people who actually have to work for a living and not just being given a load of horses as a kid.’
Another described the lawyer as an ‘entitled and clueless little madam’.
When approached by the Daily Mail, Ms Murgatroyd hit back and denied that the post was offensive.
She said: ‘I very much dispute that it is insensitive.
‘The people that I was with, having grown up on a council estate, also didn’t find it insensitive at all. It’s not about where you come from, it’s about spending time with quality people and that’s what I do.
‘It doesn’t matter where I’m from or what food I eat. In the same way that I would have Mexican food last week and I’m not Mexican. If people want to shop at a farm shop, I don’t take offence because they didn’t grow up on a farm.
‘I don’t find it offensive and I’m sorry if that causes controversy.’
Asked why she had deleted the post, she added: ‘Because I don’t have the time to respond to everybody. If people are told that it’s insensitive, then they are going to say “yeah, it is insensitive”.
‘Well, I don’t think it is, and it certainly wasn’t meant to be insensitive.
‘But it certainly wasn’t deleted because I think it was insensitive, it wasn’t at all.’
