On 24 October 2022, the world’s sixth-largest economy selected its 57th Prime Minister. Rishi Sunak was chosen unopposed, endorsed by 202 Conservative MPs, out of a total of 357, shortly after he had failed to become leader of the ruling Conservative and Unionist party at his first attempt, less than two months previously. He was the only candidate to cross the required threshold of 100 votes for the leadership contest, as his only opponent, Penny Mordaunt, failed to reach the mark. On this occasion, the self-selected and paid-up members of the Conservative Party (standard annual subscription £25) had no say in the matter, but they need not have worried, as all shades of Tory MPs, except some at the very fringes of the right wing of the Party, and including those who had been enthusing for “Boris 2.0”, appeared to have had an epiphany and belatedly recognised the need for “Party unity”. The selection of Britain’s first “Asian” and first Hindu Prime Minister, the youngest since 1812 and the third national leader in seven weeks, was fortuitously timed to coincide with the annual Hindu festival of Diwali. The opposition referred to the way in which the new Prime Minister, lacking a personal mandate, was chosen as a “coronation” and demanded an early general election. On the other hand, there was much jubilation in India over Britain’s new Hindu Prime Minister, in what was perceived to be a reversal of roles from colonial times, while closer to home there were reports of rejoicing among British Asians over the emergence of a new role model for the entire community.
As expected under these circumstances, Sunak’s career is being, and will continue to be, dissected in great detail for public scrutiny. For those interested in the details, an unauthorised biography by Lord Ashcroft, entitled ‘Going to Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak’, provides some useful background information. Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton General Hospital to a general practitioner father and pharmacist mother. His parents were part of the Indian diaspora in East Africa-his father from Kenya and his mother from Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania)-who both made it to England in 1966. Rishi attended a couple of private prep schools before going to Winchester College, as a fee-paying student after failing to secure a scholarship, where he made it to head boy. His education continued at Lincoln College, Oxford (Philosophy, Politics & Economics) and Stanford University (Fulbright Scholar; MBA), where he met his wealthy and well-connected wife, Akshata Murty, daughter of an Indian IT billionaire. They married in 2009, four years later after their first encounter, and have two daughters. Sunak’s financial career involved stints at Goldman Sachs and at a hedge fund, The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund. Failing to secure nomination for the southern English constituency of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, he struck gold further north in Richmond in North Yorkshire in 2014, cementing his links with the constituency by acquiring the Georgian Manor House, set in 12 acres of land in the village of Kirby Sigston, four miles east of the town of Northallerton. Elected to Parliament in the 2015 General Election, he had a meteoric rise from Chief Secretary to the Treasury to Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020, just in time for the COVID pandemic, during which he regularly featured in the news headlines.
Sunak’s prime ministership is being hailed as yet another example of declining racism and also being portrayed as an example of the aspirational “British Dream”-both assertions with limited merit. Whatever way you look at it, there can be no denying his financial as well as political success. He has earned a place in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated family fortune of £730 million, and acquired an enviable property portfolio of a five-bedroom mews house and pied-a-terre apartment in London’s South Kensington, apart from his Yorkshire manor house, and a Santa Monica penthouse apartment that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. On the negative side, there has been some controversy over his wife’s non-domiciled status in the UK for tax purposes, since rectified, and allegations of links with off-shore tax havens. Sunak’s status as wealthiest member of the House of Commons should not, however, automatically prevent him from understanding the difficulties of those in less fortunate circumstances-his actions once in post will tell all.
Sunak’s legacy as Chancellor of the Exchequer may be considered partly responsible for the economic predicament we find ourselves in, but he is also believed to be best equipped to help set matters right. His Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, better known as the furlough scheme, benefited many employees rendered workless by lockdowns, but left the self-employed to fend for themselves. The government’s decision to write off £4.3 billion in fraudulent claims under the £47 billion Bounce Back Loans scheme for small businesses led to the resignation, in protest, of Lord Agnew, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury in January 2022. It has been reported that Sunak was ambivalent about the need for tight lockdowns, given their profound economic impact. His “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme to support the hospitality sector during the summer of 2020 may have fuelled spread of COVID-19 at a time when the outbreak had yet to be contained. To the discomfiture of many Party members, he created an image as a high-tax Chancellor, as he raised corporation tax and National Insurance contributions, while freezing income tax thresholds and dragging many taxpayers into higher tax brackets. Nevertheless, his aggressive encounters with Liz Truss during the Party leadership contest paved the way for his return. His vehement opposition to her plans for massive and unfunded tax cuts, in the face of increased government borrowing, was vindicated in the aftermath of the markets’ lack of confidence in the Truss administration’s mini-budget.
It is mostly irrelevant that Mr. Sunak happens to be of “Indian origin” and a Hindu. Irrespective of the gender, ethnicity, or religion of its Prime Minister, what the UK really needs is a strong and unifying leader who is able to cast aside partisan divisions and to tackle the economic crisis in a less ideologically driven and more nuanced fashion, thereby minimising the economic pain that is about to be inflicted on the general public. Without a clear statement of his intentions on multiple fronts, and with questions about the “democratic legitimacy” of the process by which he has been selected, the jury is out on whether Sunak is the best choice for Prime Minister from the ranks of the Tories.
Sunak’s ‘government of all the talents’ will be expected to ‘deliver’ on such issues as the energy crisis, the NHS and social care, the net-zero transition, resetting industrial relations, levelling-up, immigration control, defence spending, the Ukraine conflict, the Northern Ireland Protocol, tackling crime, and LGBTQ+ issues, among others-a most daunting prospect, given the limited time available. We can expect hikes in taxes and cuts to government spending as he sets about restoring “economic orthodoxy” and reintroduce fiscal discipline, in a new era of austerity. Widely described as a “technocrat”, Sunak’s skills of diplomacy will be put to the test as he negotiates and argues Britain’s case with other world leaders-a difficult lot at the best of times. Any reservations withstanding, we can only hope for the best as Mr. Sunak takes on the poisoned chalice of the Prime Ministership, if only for the sake of wellbeing of the British people. In the fractious political state that the UK finds itself in, and the divided loyalties of the Conservative MPs, his longevity in post is by no means guaranteed unless he can visibly deliver on at least some fronts in the short term.
Ashis Banerjee