Mexico’s new UK ambassador from ‘party of poor’ has 10 houses and £1m of jewellery

Alejandro Gertz Manero said in a public filing that many of his assets were inherited. Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Alejandro Gertz Manero said in a public filing that many of his assets were inherited. Photograph: Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP/Getty Images Mexico’s new UK ambassador from ‘party of poor’ has 10 houses and £1m of jewellery Alejandro Gertz Manero’s cars and properties contrast starkly with Morena party’s long association with austerity With his million-dollar jewellery collection and his two Rolls-Royces, Mexico’s new ambassador to the UK will fit right in with the Mayfair crowd. Former attorney general Alejandro Gertz Manero was appointed to the post by President Claudia Sheinbaum last year, but only recently disclosed his financial assets . The list includes 10 houses, seven cars, including two Rolls-Royces – one worth $150,000 (£115,000) – jewellery worth over $1m and an art collection valued at nearly half a million dollars. He also reported bank accounts in Mexico, the US, Spain and Switzerland, and owns a property in the US worth over $1m and a flat in Madrid bought for €1m (£860,000). In the public filing, Gertz Manero said many of the assets were inherited. ‘Historic’: how Mexico’s welfare policies helped 13.4 million people out of poverty Read more In Mexico, wealthy politicians are nothing new and, as corruption is commonplace, there is an intense focus on the lifestyles of public officials. But the ambassador’s opulent assets stand in stark contrast to the governing Morena party (to which he belongs), which has long held the motto: “For the good of all, first the poor.” Morena “have associated themselves with austerity historically as part of their political platform”, said Viri Ríos, a public policy expert and the director of Mexico Decoded . “What’s been created is a contradiction between what Morena appeals to narratively versus what the party really is, which is a mix of officials, politicians, and personalities of all kinds and levels of wealth.” The party founder and former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a close ally of Gertz Manero, was famed for driving around in an old sedan and advocating for “Franciscan austerity”. He also slashed his own salary and gave up the lavish presidential residence and private jet. View image in fullscreen Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, pictured in July 2018, was known for his modest choice of transport. Photograph: Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images “There can be no rich government if the people are poor,” López Obrador often said, a phrase picked up by Sheinbaum. But Gertz Manero is hardly the first Morena politician to be ensnared in scandal for luxury taste: the party has been plagued by numerous instances of its members caught wearing expensive clothing or watches and travelling to exotic destinations. Last year, the former president’s son, Andrés Manuel López Beltrán, caused outrage when he was spotted at a $400-a-night hotel in