You truly cannot make this stuff up. Mexico's ruling Morena party, which has spent years lecturing citizens about the virtues of "Franciscan austerity" under the slogan "For the good of all, first the poor," has just sent its new ambassador to the UK. His name is Alejandro Gertz Manero, and according to his newly published financial disclosure, he is absolutely loaded. It turns out the former attorney general will fit right in with the ultra-rich Mayfair crowd in London, armed with an asset sheet that would make a Wall Street investment banker blush.

Let’s look at the receipts. Gertz Manero’s official filing reveals he owns ten houses and seven cars. And we aren't talking about fuel-efficient hybrids here; his garage features two Rolls-Royces, with just one of them valued at a modest $150,000 (£115,000). He also has a jewelry collection worth over $1 million—because nothing screams "fighting poverty" like a million bucks in ice—and an art collection valued at nearly half a million dollars. Add to that a property in the US worth over $1 million, a flat in Madrid bought for €1 million (£860,000), and a convenient web of bank accounts spread across Mexico, the US, Spain, and Switzerland.

Naturally, Gertz Manero had a classic excuse ready for his public filing, claiming that many of these eye-watering assets were simply "inherited." It’s the ultimate elite safety valve: "I didn't break the austerity rules, guys, I was just born incredibly rich!" While wealthy, corrupt politicians are a dime a dozen in Mexico, the sheer scale of this luxury portfolio is a hilariously bad look for a party that claims to hate material ostentation.

As Viri Ríos, a public policy expert and the director of Mexico Decoded, put it, there is a massive gulf between what Morena says it is and what it actually is. Ríos noted that the party has created a total contradiction between its public narrative and reality. Instead of a cohesive movement of the working class, Morena is actually just a chaotic mix of officials, politicians, and elites enjoying various levels of extreme wealth. The narrative is strictly for the voters; the luxury is for the party insiders.

This whole situation is a massive departure from the political theater established by former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who also happens to be a close ally of Gertz Manero. AMLO loved playing the role of the humble public servant, driving around in a beat-up old sedan, cutting his own salary, and giving up the presidential residence and private jet. His favorite catchphrase was "There can be no rich government if the people are poor"—a line that new President Claudia Sheinbaum has dutifully copied. Apparently, that rule doesn't apply if you're representing the government in London.