BRITAIN’s first prime minister of colour Rishi Sunak is a self-confessed geek and wasn’t very naughty at school. He admitted as much to ITV’s Anuskha Asthana (see list no. 65) in a much more up close and personal interview than he usually does.
Screened earlier this year, she called him an “overachiever” in her written profile piece in the Times – any self-respecting Asian parent would tell you there is no such thing! And the bar is very high now for any ambitious south Asian youngster – you can’t get above the prime minister – unless you, perhaps, marry into the Royal Family.
More seriously, Asthana is right – head boy at Winchester, one of Britain’s most venerated public schools, first-class degree from Oxford, Fulbright scholar to Stanford in the US, a popular chancellor during Covid (when he created the furlough scheme) and now prime minister and any south Asian following in those illustrious political footsteps will only (always) be No 2 now. So what sort of man is Rishi Sunak – especially away from the rough tumble of politics and the pressures of leading a country?
A geek – his attention to detail is well documented. He reads and absorbs everything and often asks for more than he is given and is extremely diligent and hardworking. No doubt these are qualities most British south Asian households espouse – the refrain being that you have to work twice as hard as someone from a majority background to get to even the same place. All the while, Sunak had his eyes on the top post – elected to parliament in 2015 for the constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire.
Many tipped him for the top but perhaps didn’t see how quickly it would all happen as some parts of the Conservative Party pressed the self-destruct button and didn’t deign to look back. He has already surpassed Liz Truss in number of days in office – and if he goes to the polls later this year, he can say quite confidently that he brought purpose and calm to the government and signed a major agreement with the EU (the Windsor Framework) and brought squabbling MPs in Northern Ireland back to Stormont and representative government.
Those are not bad achievements. Of his five pledges, we have heard a little less this year and we shall come to that. Asthana put him on the spot in her programme, saying he must have dreamt of being prime minister – some at Oxford claimed he had talked of such, but his reaction to Asthana was natural and interesting.
“No,” he said quickly – “because you didn’t have role models like that.” He saw newscasters in the mould of Sir Trevor McDonald and Moira Stewart break through in the media, but as far as politics went there was no one like him – it was only in 1987 that Keith Vaz entered parliament along with Diane Abbot, Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant representing the first ethnic MPs to enter the Commons in the modern era
No one got into government until quite a lot later. Growing up in Southampton, Sunak was acutely aware of racism and prejudice. He admitted to facing such when he was a kid at school and then in a fast-food joint when his younger siblings were abused. “It hurts in a way that other things don’t,” he said powerfully of the racism they suffered on ITV.
His parents – his father is a GP and his mother a pharmacist – were keen their children got on and made the most of opportunities. Almost all immigrants have an innate understanding of this underlying - and sometimes overwhelming impulse – you uproot yourself for the betterment of your children – even if it causes you pain and suffering, on a personal level. Whatever slights and anger (and sometimes even violence) you have to endure, your children will not experience the same: they will achieve your dreams. Sending him to Winchester required sacrifice and toil – his parents took out loans and worked extra hours to afford the fees which today are around £37,000 a year for a day pupil; (and borders pay nearly £50,000).
Many Asian households still put a premium on education and attaining qualifications and entering a stable profession like medicine, the law or accountancy. Immigrants wherever they are value stability.
When Sunak was presented with the GG2 Hammer Award at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards last year, he joked that it made up for the fact that his parents really wanted him to be a doctor. At Oxford University, he was studious and impeccably behaved – unlike some of his fellow Conservative colleagues.
He had an internship with the party while he studied at Oxford. From there, he got straight into work and was employed by US bank and trading house, Goldman Sachs. In 2004, he decided to pursue an MBA at Stanford University in California and was a Fulbright scholar. It was here that he was to meet Akshata Murty who was also studying at Stanford.
It isn’t clear whether they hit it off from the very beginning or how much young Rishi knew about Akshata – famously, she is the heiress of one of India’s richest and most brilliant men. Her father Narayana is behind the Indian global tech giant that is Infosys. She has a share in the company and is widely reported to be a billionaire in her own right.
Her parents are celebrated figures in India – her mother Sudha is an author and broke barriers as a young engineering graduate who worked initially on the shop floor and was one of the first women to do so in the 1970s in India. The couple’s early trials and tribulations are contained within a new best-selling book, Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Naryana Murthy by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and what emerges is how driven Akshata’s mother was – it was she who provided the seed capital for Narayana to start Infosys.
So, Akshata comes from a hugely successful and wealthy family and she too has ventured into business creating a fashion label and heading up the family’s UK wealth office at one time. The couple settled in California after graduating and he became a millionaire investment manager before moving into hedge fund management.
He worked for the Conservative Party just before being elected to parliament on their return to the UK. Some in his close circle see Akshata as an asset – always superbly turned out and supportive, they think she might be able to reach parts of the electorate he can’t.
At the most recent party conference in the autumn of last year, she unexpectedly introduced her husband before his first set piece speech as both leader of the party and prime minister.
She joked that he liked to watch rom coms, “the cheesier, the better” and was her best friend and couldn’t imagine being anywhere but by his side and supporting his premiership. It was endearing and went down well with the party faithful – and expect to see more of her in a General Election campaign.
One thing that binds them together, though rarely alluded to publicly is their faith. They are both practising Hindus and proud ones – the nation first saw it when Sunak lit diyas (lamps) outside No 11 when he was chancellor. Hindus celebrate Diwali as the time when good overcomes evil and the righteous prevail - and the lighting of lamps signify light over darkness.
His first major public reception last year was Diwali at No.10, which while being a regular fixture for whoever occupies the most famous house in Britain, this time took on special significance for a Hindu prime minster. King Charles gifted him Diwali sweets. It was on his first visit to India as prime minister that we saw more of his faith. He and Akshata visited the Akshardham Temple in New Delhi while Sunak was there representing the UK at the G20 summit hosted by India in September.
Built by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha which runs the temple in Neasden, north London, the structure in Delhi is equally imposing and just as magnificent.
Before his visit, he had told the Indian media: “I am a proud Hindu that’s how I was raised and that’s how I am.”
Earlier in the UK, on India’s Independence Day, August 15 – he went to attend a religious discourse (katha) by the renowned spiritual leader Pujya Morari Bapu, hosted by the Tory peer Lord Dolar Popat.
Sunak made it clear to the assembled 500 at Cambridge University, “I am here today not as prime minster but as a Hindu.
“For me faith is very personal. It guides me in every aspect of my life. Being prime minister is a great honour, but it is not an easy job. There are difficult decisions to make, hard choices to confront and our faith gives me courage, strength and resilience to do the best that I can for our country.
“For me, it was a wonderful and special moment to light diyas for Diwali outside 11 Downing Street, back when I was chancellor. And just like (Morari) Bapu has a golden Hanuman in his background, I am proud that a golden Ganesha sits gleefully on my desk at 10 Downing Street.
“It is a constant reminder to me about listening and reflecting on issues before acting.” It is going to be another challenging year – Sunak faces pressures from all sides. Some in his own party seem determined to make his life as difficult as possible – some of these are Boris Johnson loyalists who have never quite forgiven the present prime minister for resigning from Johnson’s government. Though not co-ordinated both he and his one-time chancellor boss (he was no 2 at the Treasury as chief secretary) Sajid Javid resigned remarkably close to each other in timing that summer in 2022.
Johnson went on to lose some 60 ministers - who resigned over his handling of his handling of the Chris Pincher affair. Pincher had been appointed a government whip and then had been accused of groping men when drunk at a Tory club. It transpired that there had been “previous” and Johnson had initially claimed he knew nothing about this – only to later concede that he might have been aware of something… For many it was just the last straw from a leader who essentially lacked many basic leadership skills.
Sunak on the other hand has taken tough decisions and is an effective political operator at one level, whatever his most fervent detractors might say. He staved off a crisis and a rebellion with his Rwanda Bill after the Supreme Court ruled that the African country was not safe for refugees.
While his five pledges to the British people have not been so much talked about this year – the number of boat crossings is down; inflation is falling and the British economy shows some signs that it may be turning a corner – despite the most recent figures in February showing that the economy was shrinking – slightly.
Reducing debt depends on tax receipts and a growing economy – many think he does have some room for tax cuts in the March budget, and might easily be able to demonstrate that national debt is falling; the one area of greatest difficulty remains the NHS and waiting lists continuing to be stubbornly high; unless he or the junior doctors show some willingness to (further) compromise, the strikes will continue and the lists will just go up.
In late February, Sunak showed he wasn’t afraid to act – he suspended the whip over one time Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson MP, who claimed that Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London was being controlled by Islamists.
There was condemnation from Tories like Sajid Javid and Gavin Barwell, former PM Theresa May’s chief of staff.
Yet the rumours of a plot to oust Sunak are not going away – the Sunday Times ran a story that Lord Frost, a leading Brexiteer and Will Dry, a former advisor to the PM himself were manoeuvring, along with other influential political consultants to see the prime minister into the long grass. It reported that No10 was taking the group seriously – a recent large poll had shown that the party was heading for a heavy defeat - annihilation – even still finding a suitable and better replacement won’t be easy – with the much touted Kemi Badenoch at pains to stress her loyalty to the PM.
Sunak knows the May local elections will be tough and that he doesn’t have a strong narra[1]tive of economic success to go into the next election – competency possibly, but after 14 years, most of the electorate is looking for far more.
“I don’t think the country votes for divided parties,” he told Asthana, when she raised the spectre of a plot to oust him before the next election.
