By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana
Monday, 24th October, is a momentous day in British political history; the day MPs of the governing Conservative Party elected Rishi Sunak as their leader, paving the way for him to become United Kingdom’s first Prime Minister of Asian descent. Sunak is a practising Hindu and, interestingly, it happened on one of the most important days for Hindus: Diwali, ‘The Festival of Lights’. He is the first non-white PM, too, though not the first from an ethnic minority; that honour going to Benjami Disraeli, who became PM in 1868. Disraeli is of Jewish origin but was baptized an Anglican, at the age of 12 years. Surprisingly, Ireland beat the UK when they elected Leo Varadkar as the Taoiseach (PM) in 2017. He has an Indian father and Irish mother, and is gay.
It, indeed, is a ‘political bombshell’! The former colonial masters of the sub-continent now having a person of Indian descent, at their helm, is extraordinary, even shocking to some. In fact, I started my article “Whither UK?” (The Island, 8th September) with the following:
“The ‘British Bombshell’, some of us were praying for, unfortunately never materialised! Had Rishi Sunak been elected the leader of the Conservative Party on 5th September, it would have been a bombshell of unimaginable proportions: a politician of Indian origin becoming the British Prime Minister! In fact, it would have been a double-whammy for the former ‘Colonial Ruler’ – as India overtook the UK as the fifth largest economy, only the previous day.”
I ended the piece with the comment: “Whether Rishi Sunak will replace Liz Truss, as Conservative leader, after the next election defeat, and become the first Indian origin PM of the UK, subsequently, only time will tell. Nothing is impossible but variables in politics are unfathomable!” No one ever imagined that it would be so soon and that Liz Truss’ tenure would be so short!
Rishi Sunak created yet another record by becoming the youngest PM for the last two centuries. Robert Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool became PM on 8th June 1812, a day after his 42nd birthday, following the assassination of Spencer Percival, the only British PM to be assassinated. Rishi Sunak was born on 12 May, 1980, making him older than the Earl of Liverpool by five months, at the time of election as PM. Of course, the all-time record is held by William Pitt the Younger, who became PM of Great Britain, in 1783, at the age of 24 years; a record which is unlikely to be ever beaten!
Rishi’s grandparents, born in the Punjab, migrated to Africa, where his father Yashvir was born in Kenya and mother, Usha, in Tanzania. His parents migrated to the UK, in thr 1960s, and lived in Southampton. His father was a GP and his mother a pharmacist who ran the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton. He was educated in a private school and read PPE in Oxford. When he went to Stanford, on a Fulbright scholarship, he met his future wife, Akshata Murty, whom he married in 2009. He worked as an investment banker and is reputed to have become a millionaire in his twenties. But this is nothing compared to his wife’s riches, who owns 0.91% of the Indian technology company Infosys and this tiny share is valued at $900 million! During the leadership campaign, which he lost to Liz Truss, when he was questioned about his father-in-law N.R. Narayana Murthy’s wealth, he responded by saying that he is enormously proud of what his father-in-law achieved with the £100 his mother-in-law gave, turning it into a billion-dollar company, employing thousands in India, the UK and all over the world. Sometime ago, when the opposition pointed out the immorality of Akshata not paying income tax, though it was not illegal as she continues to be an Indian citizen and income is generated in India, she agreed to pay income tax voluntarily on all her earnings.
Sunak entered Parliament only in 2015 and becoming PM, against all odds, in just seven years, stands testimony to his abilities. He is an excellent communicator, liked by many, and having a good following in social media, fondly referred to as ‘Dishy-Rishi’. The main reason for his meteoric rise, perhaps, is his solid performance during the Covid pandemic.
The UK excelled in keeping the public informed, during the pandemic, by holding daily press-conferences, led by a senior politician, and supported by two experts. Whilst some politicians got late by a few minutes, Rishi was always on time; so, prompt you could set your watch to his appearance on schedule. He was lucid with his explanations and was extremely reassuring, at a time when reassurance was badly needed by the vast majority, facing financial problems. He was innovative and set up a number of schemes to support business, as well as individuals, including the furlough scheme where the government funded 80% of the salaries and the job retention scheme. As the epidemic started settling, he helped the recovery of the hospitality industry by setting up a scheme “Eat out to help out”. Not that there were no critics and, of course, just like in Sri Lanka, there were unscrupulous businessmen who misused these schemes for quick bucks!
One of the reasons for the loss of popularity, and ouster of Boris Johnson, was the number of gatherings at 10 Downing Street which broke Covid rules, compounded by Boris misleading the Parliament about these. Though he claimed no rules were broken, imposition of fines by the Metropolitan Police, on the PM, resulted in a parliamentary investigation, which is continuing. Unfortunately, Rishi also got fined for attending one gathering. Imagine such fines being imposed in Sri Lanka!
Accelerated by the ill-judged decisions of Liz Truss, British economy is heading for a recession and Rishi Sunak is taking over the reins at a time of national peril. Problems facing him are numerous. Just like our politicians, the opposition parties are demanding elections! More than anything else, it is the divisions in the Conservative Party that has resulted in the present chaos, resulting in three PMs this year! Liz Truss paid heavily for increasing the divisions in the party. Conservative party is in the ‘last-chance-saloon’ and it will be interesting to see whether ‘The Indian’ would be able to save them!
It is a tough road ahead but if Rishi is able to replicate his efficiency and innovativeness during the pandemic, the future is bright for the UK!