In 2020, Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer. During his time in the position, Sunak was prominent in the government's financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, including the furlough and Eat Out to Help Out schemes, and was also prominent in the government's response to the cost-of living crisis. As chancellor, Sunak received high approval and popularity ratings in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, although his popularity later declined amid the cost-of living crisis in 2022. He resigned as chancellor in July 2022 amid a government crisis that culminated in Johnson's resignation, and stood in the leadership election to succeed him. He received the most votes in each of the series of MP votes, but lost the members' vote to Liz Truss. After spending the duration of Truss's premiership on the backbenches, Sunak was elected unopposed in the leadership election to succeed Truss, who resigned amid another government crisis; aged 42 at the time he became prime minister, Sunak became the youngest prime minister since The Earl of Liverpool in 1812.
After leaving office, Sunak became Leader of the Opposition and remained Conservative leader for nearly four months while the leadership election to replace him took place, and formed a shadow cabinet. He was succeeded by Kemi Badenoch, his Shadow Housing Secretary. He also intends to remain as a backbench MP for the next five years.
Early life and education (1980–2001)
Rishi Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton General Hospital in Southampton, Hampshire,[4][5] to East African-born Hindu parents of Indian Punjabi descent.[6][7][8][9] His father was born in the Kenya Colony in 1949, while his mother was born in the Tanganyika Territory (modern-day Tanzania).[7][10][11][12] His paternal grandfather Ramdas Sunak had migrated from Gujranwala, located in present-day Pakistan, to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in 1935, while his maternal grandfather, Raghubir Berry, grew up in Punjab before eventually moving to Tanzania as an engineer.[7] Both of Sunak's parents had moved to the UK in 1966.[7] While in the UK they eventually met and would get married in 1977.[7]
Sunak's paternal grandfather was from Gujranwala (in present-day Pakistan[21][22]), while his maternal grandfather was from Ludhiana (in present-day India[23]); both cities at the time were part of the Punjab province in British India. His grandparents migrated to East Africa, and then to the United Kingdom in the 1960s.[24] His father was born and raised in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (present-day Kenya), and was a general practitioner in the National Health Service (NHS). His mother, born in Tanganyika (which later became part of Tanzania), was a pharmacist who owned the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton between 1995 and 2014, and has a degree from Aston University.[16][25] Sunak is the eldest of three siblings.[26] His brother is a psychologist and his sister works in New York as chief of strategy and planning at Education Cannot Wait, the United Nations Global Fund for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises.[14][27]
Career
Business career (2001–2015)
Sunak worked as an analyst for the investment bankGoldman Sachs between 2001 and 2004.[18][28] He then worked for hedge fund management firm The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI), becoming a partner in September 2006.[29] He left in November 2009[30] to join former colleagues in California at a new hedge fund firm, Theleme Partners, which launched in October 2010 with $700 million under management (equivalent to $978 million in 2023).[31][32][33] At both hedge funds, his boss was Patrick Degorce.[34] Sunak was also a director of the investment firm Catamaran Ventures, owned by his father-in-law, the Indian businessman N. R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys, between 2013 and 2015.[28][35]
Sunak was re-elected at the 2017 general election with an increased majority of 23,108 (40.5%).[46] In the same year, Sunak wrote a paper for Policy Exchange on the importance and fragility of the UK's undersea infrastructure.[47] Sunak was re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased majority of 27,210 (47.2%).[48] Following boundary changes in the 2024 general election, Sunak won the seat of Richmond and Northallerton, which replaced his former seat of Richmond (Yorks), with a majority of 23,059 (51.4).[49]
Sunak was appointed to the senior cabinet role of chief secretary to the Treasury by Johnson, serving under Sajid Javid.[53] He became a member of the Privy Council the next day.[54] During the 2019 general election, Sunak represented the Conservatives in debates.
Sunak in a public information film about COVID-19, April 2020
In the weeks leading up to Johnson's first cabinet reshuffle in February 2020, a number of briefings in the press had suggested that a new economic ministry led by Sunak might be established, to reduce the power and political influence of the Treasury.[55][56] By February 2020, it was reported that Javid would remain in his role as Chancellor and that Sunak would stay on as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in order to "keep an eye" on Javid.[57]
On 13 February 2020, the day of the reshuffle, Javid resigned as Chancellor, following a meeting with Johnson. During the meeting, Johnson had offered to allow Javid to keep his position on the condition that he dismiss all his advisers at the Treasury and replace them with ones selected by 10 Downing Street.[58] Upon resigning, Javid told the Press Association that "no self-respecting minister would accept those terms".[59][60] Sunak was promoted to chancellor to replace Javid as part of Johnson's first cabinet reshuffle later that day.[61][62]
Now, more than any time in our history, we will be judged by our capacity for compassion. Our ability to come through this, won’t just be down to what government or businesses do, but by the individual acts of kindness that we show each other. When this is over, we want to look back on this moment and remember the many small acts of kindness done by us and to us. We want to look back on this time and remember how we thought first of others and acted with decency. We want to look back on this time and remember how, in the face of a generation-defining moment, we undertook a collective national effort - and we stood together. It’s on all of us.
Sunak at a press conference on COVID-19, October 2020
Sunak introduced a programme providing £330 billion in emergency support for businesses,[66] as well as the Coronavirus Job Retentionfurlough scheme for employees. This was the first time a British government had created such an employee retention scheme.[67][68] The scheme was introduced on 20 March 2020 as providing grants to employers to pay 80% of a staff wage and employment costs each month, up to a total of £2,500 per person per month.[68] The cost was estimated at £14 billion a month to run.[69]
The furlough scheme initially ran for three months and was backdated to 1 March. Following a three-week extension of the countrywide lockdown the scheme was extended by Sunak until the end of June 2020.[70][71] At the end of May, Sunak extended the scheme until the end of October 2020. The decision to extend the job retention scheme was made to avoid or defer mass redundancies, company bankruptcies and potential unemployment levels not seen since the 1930s.[72] In March 2021, Sunak announced that the scheme had been extended once more until September 2021.[73]
In July 2020, Sunak unveiled a plan for a further £30 billion of spending which included a stamp duty holiday, a cut to value-added tax (VAT) for the hospitality sector, a job retention bonus for employers and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme,[74][75] aimed at supporting and creating jobs in the hospitality industry. The government subsidised food and soft drinks at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants at 50%, up to £10 per person. The offer was available from 3 to 31 August on Monday to Wednesday each week.[76] In total, the scheme subsidised £849 million in meals.[77]
Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty were not informed of the scheme.[78] Some considered the scheme to be a success in boosting the hospitality industry,[79] whilst others disagreed.[80][81] A 2020 study found that the scheme contributed to a rise in COVID-19 infection, which Johnson acknowledged but the Treasury rejected.[82][83][84] It was later said by Vallance during the COVID-19 Inquiry that Sunak had not informed medical advisers of the scheme until it was announced, whereas written evidence from Sunak said that the scheme had been discussed with medical advisers, including Vallance, and they had not objected.[85]
Amid the rising cost of living and energy crises, Sunak intensified efforts to respond to the crisis in May 2022, with a £5 billion windfall tax on energy companies to help fund a £15 billion support package for the public. The package included every household getting a £400 discount on energy bills, which would be in addition to a £150 council tax refund the government had already ordered. For about 8 million of the UK's lowest income households, a further £650 payment was announced. Additionally, pensioners or those with disability would qualify for extra payments, on top of the £550 that every household gets, and the £650 they would receive if they had a low income.[86][87][88][89]
Sunak presented his first budget, Delivering on Our Promises to the British People, on 11 March 2020. It was scheduled to be followed by another budget in the autumn, but in September 2020 he announced that budget would be scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, stating "now is not the right time to outline long-term plans – people want to see us focused on the here and now".[90][91] Instead, additional statements were given by the chancellor in both summer and autumn.
The Winter Economy Plan was delivered by Sunak on 24 September 2020. The purpose of the statement was to announce measures aimed at further helping to promote economic recovery following the impact of COVID-19. The plan aimed to further promote economic recovery while preserving jobs and businesses which were considered viable. After a second lockdown in England on 31 October 2020, the programme was extended several times, until 30 September 2021.[92]
The July 2020 summer statement (also known as the coronavirus mini-budget) was delivered by Sunak on 8 July 2020. The purpose of the statement was to announce measures aimed at helping to promote economic recovery following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement was delivered to the House of Commons, where Sunak unveiled a spending package worth £30bn. Concerns were subsequently raised by organisations including HM Revenue and Customs and the Institute for Fiscal Studies about the statement's impact, as well as its cost-effectiveness, while at least one major retailer declined to take advantage of a financial bonus scheme intended for rehiring employees placed on furlough during the pandemic.
In his March 2021 budget, Sunak emphasized the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the economy, with 700,000 people losing their jobs, the economy shrinking by 10% (the largest fall in 300 years), and the highest borrowing outside wartime.[93][94] The budget included an increase in the rate of corporation tax from 19% to 25% in 2023, a five-year freeze in the tax-free personal allowance and the higher rate income tax threshold, and the extension of the furlough scheme until the end of September.[95] Sunak was the first Chancellor to raise the corporation tax rate since Labour's Denis Healey in 1974.[94]
In October 2021, Sunak made his third and final budget statement, which included substantial spending promises related to science and education.[96] The budget increased in-work support through the Universal Credit system by increasing the work allowances by £500 a year, and reducing the post-tax deduction taper rate from 63% to 55%.[97] £560 million of investment was announced for the Levelling Up White Paper.[98] Many of the announcements to be made in the budget were previewed before budget day, drawing criticism and anger from the House of Commons. In response to the criticism, Sunak said the budget "begins the work of preparing for a new economy".[99]
Sunak made what would ultimately be his final budget, his spring statement, on 23 March 2022. He cut fuel duty, removed VAT on energy saving equipment (such as solar panels and insulation) and reduced national insurance payments for small businesses and, while continuing with a planned national insurance rise in April, he promised to align the primary threshold with the basic personal income allowance as of July. He also promised a reduction in income tax in 2024. Sunak also provided some funding which was intended to help vulnerable people cope with the cost of living.[100]
Sunak hosted a G7 summit in London in June 2021.[101] A tax reform agreement was signed, which in principle sought to establish a global minimum tax on multinationals and online technology companies.[101] In October 2021, the OECD signed an accord to join the tax reform plan.[102] Later that month, Sunak attended COP26 in Glasgow.[103] During his speech given on 3 November, he said that he felt optimism despite daunting challenges and that by bringing together finance ministers, businesses and investors, COP26 could begin to deliver targets from the Paris Agreement.[104]
Sunak (right) pictured with Boris Johnson (left), March 2020
On 5 July 2022, Sunak and Javid resigned almost simultaneously amid a scandal surrounding the sexual harassment allegations against Chris Pincher, which arose after it was revealed that Johnson had promoted Pincher to the position of Deputy Chief Whip while knowing of the allegations beforehand.[105] Sunak was the second of 61 Conservative MPs to resign during the government crisis.[106] He was succeeded as chancellor by Nadhim Zahawi. Following the resignations of Sunak and Javid, numerous junior ministers and among the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) also resigned, most of whom cited a lack of honesty and integrity on the part of Johnson. In the following 24 hours, 36 MPs resigned from their roles in government and Johnson announced his resignation. In his resignation letter Sunak said:
The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning. It has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different. I am sad to be leaving Government but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we cannot continue like this.
On 8 July 2022, Sunak announced his candidacy in the leadership election to replace Johnson.[107] Sunak launched his campaign in a video posted to social media, writing that he would "restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country".[108] He said that his values were "patriotism, fairness, hard work",[109] and pledged to "crack down on gender neutral language".[110] During the campaign, Sunak pledged to included tax cuts only when inflation was under control, scrapping of the 5% VAT rate on household energy for one year, introducing a temporary £10 fine for patients who fail to attend GP appointments, capping of refugee numbers, and a tightening of the definition of asylum.[111] On 20 July, Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss emerged as the final two candidates in the contest on 20 July to be put forward to the membership for the final leadership vote. He had received the most votes in each of the series of MP votes with Sunak receiving 137 to Truss's 113 in the final round.[112] Sunak opposed Truss' economic plans and predicted they would result in economic damage, saying "Liz, we have to be honest. Borrowing your way out of inflation isn’t a plan, it’s a fairytale.” A spokesperson for Sunak later said: “The reality is that Truss cannot deliver a support package as well as come good on £50bn worth of unfunded, permanent tax cuts in one go. To do so would mean increasing borrowing to historic and dangerous levels, putting the public finances in serious jeopardy and plunging the economy into an inflation spiral."[113]
In the membership vote, Truss received 57.4% of the vote, making her the new leader.[114] Sunak responded by offering his support to Truss, saying "It’s right we now unite behind the new PM, Liz Truss, as she steers the country through difficult times."[115] He spent the duration of Truss's premiership on the backbenches. As Sunak predicted, Truss announced large-scale tax cuts and borrowing in a mini-budget on 23 September, which was widely criticised and – after it rapidly led to financial instability – largely reversed.[116] She announced her resignation on 20 October 2022 amid a government crisis, triggering a leadership contest.[117] On 22 October, it was reported that Sunak had the required number of supporters—100 members of the House of Commons—to run in the ballot on 24 October. The total number of MPs who publicly declared support passed 100 on the afternoon of 22 October.[118] On 23 October, Sunak declared that he would stand for election.[119] After Johnson ruled himself out of the race and Penny Mordaunt withdrew her candidacy, Sunak was announced as the new leader on 24 October.[120]
As the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons, Sunak was appointed as prime minister by Charles III on 25 October 2022, becoming the first British Asian to take the office. At 42, Sunak became the youngest prime minister since Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1812.[121] In his first speech as prime minister, Sunak said that Truss "was not wrong" to want to improve growth and that he "admired her restlessness to create change", but admitted that "some mistakes were made", and that he was elected prime minister in part to fix them:[122]
I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda. I will unite our country, not with words, but with action. I will work day in and day out to deliver for you. This government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level. Trust is earned. And I will earn yours.
In February 2023, Sunak negotiated a proposed agreement with the EU on Northern Ireland's trading arrangements which was published as the Windsor Framework.[129] On 27 February, Sunak delivered a statement to the House of Commons, saying that the proposed agreement "protects Northern Ireland's place in our Union.[130] On 22 March, the date of the parliamentary vote, 22 Conservative MPs and six DUP MPs voted against the government legislation.[131] The vote ultimately passed by 515 votes to 29.[131]
Sunak holds a press conference on the Rwanda asylum plan, 22 April 2024Sunak meeting Rwandan president Paul Kagame in Downing Street.
In 2019 the Conservative Party and Boris Johnson pledged to reduce net migration below 250,000 per year, but Sunak said in 2023 that the priority was not to reduce legal immigration but to stop illegal immigration.[132] Nearly 30,000 undocumented migrants crossed the Channel in small boats to the UK in 2023.[133] Long-term net migration to the United Kingdom (the number of people immigrating minus the number emigrating) reached a record high of 764,000 in 2022,[134] with legal immigration at 1.26 million and emigration at 493,000.[135] Of the 1,218,000 legal migrants coming to the UK in 2023, only 10% were EU Nationals.[136]
Sunak continued the Rwanda asylum plan to have asylum seekers and illegal immigrants sent to Rwanda for processing.[137][138] After the plan was blocked by the UK's Court of Appeal in June 2023 due to concerns over international law and the possibility of refoulement (persecution of those sent to Rwanda), Sunak vowed to appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court.[139]
On 15 November 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling and declared the plan unlawful.[140] In response, Sunak sent Cleverly to Rwanda to negotiate a treaty with Rwanda focused on preventing refoulement which must now be ratified by the British and Rwandan Parliaments.[141] The government also introduced the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, emergency legislation giving ministers the power to disapply sections of the Human Rights Act 1998 and certain aspects of international law in order to allow them to declare Rwanda a safe country according to UK law.[142] The bill was criticised by many on the right of the party for not going far enough, resulting in the resignation of the minister for immigration, Robert Jenrick.[143]
On 12 December 2023 Sunak secured a government majority of 44 for the Safety of Rwanda Bill, despite the opposition of all other parties and abstentions from members of the European Research Group.[144]
Following the 15 November missile explosion in Poland, Sunak met US President Joe Biden and delivered a speech about it.[145] Sunak later met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and pledged to give Ukraine £50 million in aid. After meeting Zelenskyy, Sunak said: "I am proud of how the UK stood with Ukraine from the very beginning. And I am here today to say the UK and our allies will continue to stand with Ukraine, as it fights to end this barbarous war and deliver a just peace."[146]
Sunak visited Ukraine on 12 January 2024 to sign a new U.K.-Ukraine Agreement on Security Cooperation with Zelenskyy promising £2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including long-range missiles, artillery ammunition, air defence and maritime security, in addition to £200 million to be spent on military drones, making the UK the largest deliverer of drones to Ukraine out of any nation according to Downing Street.[147]
Israel used British-supplied weapons in the war.[150][151] However, Sunak later condemned the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza and called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in which all Israeli hostages were returned to Israel, attacks against Israel ceased and humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza.[152] His government supported the two-state solution as a resolution to the conflict.[153][154]
When the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced that he would seek to charge Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with war crimes, Sunak criticised the move as "unhelpful" and accused Khan of drawing a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.[155]
Sunak was faced with the task of rebuilding the Conservatives' reputation which had been significantly damaged by the controversies and scandals of the previous year and the Truss ministry. While their poll ratings recovered slightly over the following months, it still wasn't enough to bring them back to pre-Truss levels. Sunak contested his first local elections as leader on 4 May 2023, where the Conservatives suffered heavy losses. Two months later, on 20 July 2023, they lost two seats in by-elections; one to Labour and one to the Liberal Democrats. Their fortunes remained unchanged throughout policy changes of the following year, such as the shelving of the HS2 northern phase in October. The Conservatives lost two further seats in by-elections on 15 February 2024.
In March 2024, there were suggestions that Sunak could face a leadership challenge before the upcoming general election — which was expected within the calendar year — if the Conservatives perform poorly at the local elections on 2 May.[156][157][158] Sunak however said he would resist a challenge, even if that ends up being the case.[159][160] As predicted, 2 May saw grim showing for the Conservatives, who suffered their worst local election results since 1996. Additionally, they lost another seat to Labour in the Blackpool South by-election, and narrowly lost the West Midlands mayoral election in a knife-edge vote. Sunak's premiership was described as more stable than that of his two predecessors, while still not being able to represent a turnaround for the Conservatives.[161]
Sunak announcing the general election, 22 May 2024
On the afternoon of 22 May 2024, Sunak announced that he had asked the King to call a general election for 4 July 2024, surprising his own MPs.[162] Though Sunak had the option to wait until December 2024 to call the election, he said that he decided on the date because he believed that the economy was improving, and that "falling inflation and net migration figures would reinforce the Conservatives' election message of 'sticking to the plan'".[163]
Sunak sought to rebuild the Conservative's reputation following a slump in popularity after the short-lived Truss ministry and a slew of controversies including Partygate that irreparably damaged Johnson's ministry,[164] through campaigning on stabilising the economy, the Rwanda asylum plan, further strengthening the State Pension, and introducing National Service. He released the Conservative manifesto Clear Plan. Bold Action. Secure Future. on 11 June, addressing the economy, taxes, welfare, expanding free childcare, education, healthcare, environment, energy, transport, and crime.[165][166] Sunak stated during the general election campaign that if his party lost the election he intended to remain as a backbench MP for the next 5 years.[167] On 6 June 2024, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Sunak was heavily criticised for leaving commemoration events early to do an interview with ITV,[168][169][170] including by veterans.[171][172] Sunak apologised three times over the following week.[173]
Labour won a landslide victory in the general election, ending 14 years of Conservative government. A record number of Conservative MPs either stood down or lost their seats at the election. Three Cabinet members stood down and eight full members and four who attended Cabinet lost their seats, the highest number of sitting cabinet seat losses in history.[174] Sunak conceded the election on 5 July. In his resignation speech before tending his resignation to the King, Sunak apologised to Conservative voters and candidates for the party's heavy defeat, and announced his intention to resign as party leader once a new leader is elected. He also offered support to the incoming prime minister Keir Starmer, saying he was "a decent, public-spirited man" he respected and expressed hope he would be successful.[175][176]
To all the Conservative candidates and campaigners who worked tirelessly but without success, I am sorry that we could not deliver what your efforts deserved. It pains me to think how many good colleagues, who contributed so much to their communities and our country, will now no longer sit in the House of Commons. I thank them for their hard work, and their service. Following this result, I will step down as party leader, not immediately, but once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place. It is important that after 14 years in government the Conservative Party rebuilds, but also that it takes up its crucial role in Opposition professionally and effectively.
Most members of Sunak's cabinet heading into the 2024 general election were given the same portfolios in the shadow cabinet, including former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who became shadow chancellor, and former home secretary James Cleverly, who became shadow home secretary.[179] Former foreign secretary David Cameron chose to retire from frontline politics, with his former deputy Andrew Mitchell becoming shadow foreign secretary instead.[180] Richard Holden resigned as party chairman, and was succeeded by Richard Fuller in an interim capacity outside shadow cabinet.[181]
Sunak remained leader until his successor, Kemi Badenoch, was elected in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election,[184][185] after which he returned to the backbenches. Responding to the 2024 State Opening of Parliament, Sunak said his party would not oppose the government "for the sake of it", but would hold them to account on their election promises. On proposals to change planning laws, Sunak said that though such changes were needed "a system that does not allow local people to have a say will damage public consent for more housing in the long term".[186] While he respected Starmer's decision to scrap the Rwanda asylum plan, Sunak said that there needed to be an alternative deterrent, otherwise "a large number of those who crossed the Channel illegally will end up remaining here".[187]
On the Government benches life comes at you fast.
Soon, you might be fortunate enough to be tapped on the shoulder and be offered a junior ministerial role, then you’ll find yourself attending cabinet, then in the cabinet and then when the prime minister's position becomes untenable you might end up being called to the highest office.
And, before you know it, you have a bright future behind you and you're left wondering whether you can credibly be an elder statesman at the age of 44.
Sunak has been described as a moderate within his party with a technocratic or managerial leadership style.[188] According to Euronews, Sunak is "frequently perceived as a pragmatist and as belonging to the centre-ground of the Conservative Party".[189] He opposed the economic policies of Truss,[189] and although described as a fellow Thatcherite, he is viewed as less economically liberal than Truss.[190]
In April 2023, Sunak's perception as a centrist contrasted with descriptions of his government's policies on transgender and migration issues as being socially conservative, with Jessica Elgot of The Guardian describing Sunak as "perhaps the most socially conservative PM of his generation".[191] Robert Shrimsley of the Financial Times described Sunak as someone whose "easy manner, career in global finance and ethnic background might suggest a more cosmopolitan conservative", even though he is socially conservative and pragmatic.[192] Meanwhile, the New Statesman described Sunak as uneasily straddling both liberal-conservative and national-conservative instincts.[193] In July 2023, The Economist described him as "the most right-wing Conservative prime minister since Margaret Thatcher".[194]
Public image
Following his appointment as chancellor, Sunak arrived in public discourse from relative obscurity.[195] Some political commentators saw Sunak's appointment as signalling the end of the Treasury's independence from Downing Street, with Robert Shrimsley, chief political commentator of the Financial Times, arguing that "good government often depends on senior ministers – and the Chancellor in particular – being able to fight bad ideas".[196]
In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was popular by the standards of British politics, described by one analyst as having "better ratings than any politician since the heydays of Tony Blair".[197] Various polls showed Sunak remained overwhelmingly popular among Conservative supporters and many other Britons throughout 2020.[198][199][200] In an Ipsos MORI poll in September 2020, Sunak had the highest satisfaction score of any British chancellor since Labour's Denis Healey in April 1978, and was widely seen as the favourite to become the next Conservative leader.[201][202] Sunak developed a cult media following, with jokes and gossip about his attractiveness widespread on social media and in magazines, gaining the nickname "Dishi Rishi".[203][204][195][205][206]
Public attitudes towards Sunak remained broadly positive in 2021,[207][208][209] though his popularity declined steadily over time.[197] By early 2022, with the cost of living becoming a growing focus of public concern, Sunak's response as chancellor was perceived as inadequate and he received some of his lowest approval ratings, which continued as the Sunak family's financial affairs came under scrutiny.[210][211][212][213][214] By the time he resigned as chancellor in July 2022, Sunak's approval ratings slightly recovered.[215] In October 2022, following his appointment as prime minister, Sunak's personal favourability ratings increased.[216][217] By July 2023, Sunak's approval ratings had decreased back to a similar level to when he resigned as chancellor.[218] The New Statesman named him as the second most powerful right-wing figure of 2023, behind only Nigel Farage.[219] By his resignation as prime minister in July 2024, he had his lowest approval ratings to date.[220] Following the 2024 general election, Sunak has received praise for being gracious in defeat, with some commentators recommending for the Conservatives to keep him on as leader.[221][222]
In August 2009, Sunak married Akshata Murty, the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murty. His father-in-law is the founder of the technology company Infosys, in which Murty owns a stake.[15][223] Sunak and Murty met while studying at Stanford University in the US; they have two daughters: the first born in 2011 and the second in 2013.[15][19] In November 2020, Sunak was reported by The Guardian to have not declared a significant amount of his wife and family's financial interests on the register of ministers' interests, including a combined £1.7billion shareholding in the Indian company Infosys. Ministers are required to declare interests that are "relevant" to their responsibilities and "which might be thought to give rise to a conflict" with their public duties.[224] The independent adviser on ministers' interests investigated and concluded that Sunak had not broken any rules.[225][226]
In early 2022, newspapers reported that Murty had non-domiciled status, meaning she did not have to pay tax on income earned abroad while living in the UK.[227] The status cost approximately £30,000 to secure, and allowed her to avoid paying an estimated £20 million in UK taxes.[227][228] On 8 April Murty issued a statement saying that she would pay UK taxes on her global income, and that she regretted the issue had become "a distraction for [her] husband". An inquiry was set up to identify the source of the leak regarding her tax status.[229] Reporting around this time also revealed that Sunak had continued to hold United States' permanent resident (green card) status he had acquired in the 2000s until 2021, including for 18 months after he was made chancellor, which required filing annual US tax returns.[230][231] An investigation into both his wife's tax status and his residency status found that Sunak had not broken any ministerial rules.[232]
Sunak and Murty own several houses, including one in North Yorkshire; a mews house in Earl's Court in central London; a flat on the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington; and a penthouse apartment on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California.[233][234][235][14][236] In April 2022, it was reported that Sunak and Murty had moved out of the flat above 10 Downing Street to a newly refurbished West London home for domestic reasons.[237][238] In October 2022, the Sunaks resumed residence of their former official home at 10 Downing Street, this time as prime minister and reversing the trend started in 1997 of prime ministers living in the four-bedroom flat above 11 Downing Street.[239][240][241]
Sunak at the gathering on Johnson's birthday that breached COVID-19 regulations, June 2020
In April 2022, amid the Partygate scandal, Sunak was issued a fixed penalty notice by the police who believed he had committed offences under COVID-19 regulations by attending a birthday gathering for Boris Johnson on 19 June 2020. The police also issued 125 fixed penalty notices to 82 other individuals, including Johnson and his wife Carrie Symonds, who all apologised and paid the penalties.[242][243] After receiving the penalty notice, Sunak said he was "extremely and sincerely sorry" for the hurt caused by him attending the party, and that he respected the police's decision to give him a fine.[244] In January 2023, Sunak was issued a fixed penalty notice by Lancashire Constabulary after a social media video of him failing to wear a seat belt in a moving vehicle was published.[245] Sunak apologised for the incident and said he made a "brief error of judgment".[246]
Sunak is a teetotaller.[4][24] He stated in 2022 that he had seven dental fillings due to excessive consumption of Coca-Cola when he was younger, and expressed a strong preference for Mexican Coke.[247] He was previously a governor of the East London Science School.[39] Sunak has a Labrador called Nova and is a cricket and horse racing enthusiast.[248][249][250] As chancellor, Sunak rose early for a daily Peloton workout and was a fan of fitness instructor Cody Rigsby. Sunak is a close friend of The Spectator's former political editor James Forsyth, whom he has known since their school days. Sunak was the best man at Forsyth's wedding to the journalist Allegra Stratton, and they are godparents to each other's children.[14] He appointed Forsyth as his political secretary in December 2022.[251]
Sunak is a steadfast Southampton F.C. fan.[252][253] When asked what his ideal job would be if he was not a politician, he replied that if he could "run Southampton Football Club" he would be a "very happy man".[254]
Speaking about his childhood during the 2024 general election campaign, Sunak said his parents "wanted to put everything into our education and that was a priority" and that he didn't have Sky TV growing up.[260]
^"Rishi Sunak: A quick guide to the UK's new prime minister". BBC News. 24 October 2022. Archived from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023. His parents came to the UK from east Africa and are both of Indian origin. Mr Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980, where his father was a GP and his mother ran a pharmacy.
^Morton, Becky (2024). "I went without Sky TV as a child, says Sunak". bbc.co.uk. BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024. "There'll be all sorts of things that I would've wanted as a kid that I couldn't have. Famously, Sky TV, so that was something that we never had growing up actually"
^"Rishi Sunak Reads From Bible At UK's Multi-Faith King Charles III Coronation Event". New Delhi: NDTV. 6 May 2023. Archived from the original on 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023. Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak read from the biblical book of Colossians at the coronation of King Charles III in keeping with the tradition of British Prime Ministers giving readings at state occasions.
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