Perhaps he was keen to burnish his credentials as a political heavyweight.

Dominic Raab appeared for a BBC interview with what appeared to be a carefully curated selection of books in the background, including the autobiography of Austrian bodybuilder-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and biographies of US Presidents Regan and Nixon.

The pile of books also contained a primer on economics from the Economist magazine, in what may have been an attempt to prove his ability to run Britain's economy.

Tory MP Dominic Raab appeared for a BBC interview with what appeared to be a carefully curated selection of books in the background

And it did not take long for people to take to social media to mock Mr Raab for trying to appear well-read with the awkwardly placed stack of books.

Dan Barker posted a witheringly sarcastic put-down which questioned the positioning of the MP's collection.

He tweeted: 'Sad that Dominic Raab cannot afford bookshelves, and is forced to place small stacks of politically relevant either side of his head in a way that looks really inconvenient in terms of opening those blinds.'

One mocker, Guy Pedliham from London, put it rather more bluntly and said: 'That contrived placing of books in the background. You're fooling none of your constituents.'

It did not take long for people to take to social media to mock Mr Raab for trying to appear well-read with the awkwardly placed stack of books

What books did Dominic Raab choose for the background of his BBC interview? Virtual History | Niall Ferguson Nixon | Jonathan Aitken The Reagan Diaries | Ronald Reagan An American Life | Ronald Reagan King Hussein | Roland Dallas Total Recall | Arnold Schwarzenegger The Hugo Young Papers | Hugo Young Economics | Matthew Bishop Advertisement

Garrie Coleman, from Teesside, also weighed in on the former Brexit Secretary's odd positioning of his books but suggested that, for someone reportedly vying to be the next prime minister, he did not come across as 'in touch'.

He posted: 'Here's man-of-the-people Tory MP Dominic Raab doing what most ordinary folk do with their collection of books - keeps them on a sodding window sill.'

And one hilarious tweet even constructed a fake scenario in which the Tory MP asked his secretary to fetch him some intellectual books from the shops so he could come across well-read to the BBC audience.

Johnny Starling, from Tees Valley tweeted: Dominic Raab to his assistant - 'I’m going to be on the telly, run down to Waterstones and buy some books to make me look clever.'

Labour's Jess Phillips, a parliamentary colleague of Mr Raab's, also put the boot in and wrote: 'This is an amazing insight into a very fragile ego.'