By Sam Ho
The youngest Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 1812:
Rishi Sunak, born 12th May 1980, grew up in the suburbs of Southampton, Hampshire to immigrant parents of Indian heritage, who had emigrated from East Africa to Britain during the early 1960s. His father, born in Kenya, was a General Practitioner who worked in the NHS, whilst his mother ran her own pharmacy. In the words of Sunak himself, he had ‘fond memories’ of working in his mother’s pharmacy, helping there as a young teenager with the financial billings and accounts. He would later attend the highly prestigious independent school, Winchester College – costing more than £45,000 each year to attend in 2022 – then going onto read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, achieving a first in 2001. His academic success did not stop here as he would go on to be awarded the Fulbright scholarship to Stanford University in 2006, before turning his attention to banking and analytics, working for large investment banks, including Goldman Sachs.
Early Parliamentary Career:
Sunak ran for the House of Parliament in the seat of Richmond (Yorks) during the 2015 general election, replacing the then retiring incumbent William Hague as the Conservative Party candidate for this seat. As expected, Sunak won this seat with a majority of 19,550, especially since the Tory party had held this particular seat for over 100 years prior to Sunak being elected. One of his first actions as an MP was becoming a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee between 2015-2017. However, it was the 2016 European Union Referendum that would soon start his incredible projection towards the top of U.K politics.
Having voted to support the UK leaving the European Union in 2016, and consequently being re-elected in the snap general election in 2017, he was promoted by Theresa May to become a parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government. Furthermore, soon he would receive another promotion under Boris Johnson’s government, whom he supported to replace Theresa May as the Conservative Party Leader in the summer of 2019. He would be named as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury - the second highest position in Chequers – soon after Johnson won the leadership contest. This swift rise to political superstardom soon became apparent to the general public, as he was appointed the Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 2020 after Sajid Javid took the decision to step down from government due to a dispute over Boris Johnson’s treatment of Javid’s parliamentary aides.
Policies as the Chancellor of the Exchequer:
The fast paced and turbulent nature of Sunak’s political career certainly wouldn’t come to a stop as he would have to face up to the country biggest crisis since the end of World War 2, the Covid-19 pandemic. Having realised the potential economic and financial consequences of the looming lockdown facing the UK general public, Sunak announced the Job Retention Scheme in March 2020, a programme providing £330 billion to support small businesses and their employees during these times of financial uncertainty, as well as the Furlough Scheme which provided grants to employers to pay up to 80% of staff wage and employment costs each month. Although initially announced for 3 months, Sunak extended this programme all the way through to the end of September 2021, due to the continual effects of the pandemic. This was a move seen by many as one of compassion and empathy, helping working families amidst the struggles caused through this deadly virus. This is shown by his relatively high net favourability rating amongst the UK public during this time; a YouGOV poll from July 2020 rated Sunak with a +27% rating. Many Conservative political commentators commented that Sunak went much further to support the financial problems of the least fortunate within society, moving away from the classic Neo-liberal economic policy embraced by the Conservative Party historically. Other policy plans such as Eat Out to Help Out were also credited in helping stimulate the economy in a time of financial fracture. This contrast in policy preference in comparison to previous Conservative Chancellors can also be seen through Sunak’s decision to be first chancellor to raise corporation tax in March 2021 Budget since previous Labour politician Denis Healey in 1974.
Partygate and Resignation:
Sunak’s relative popularity amongst the UK public soon plummeted in the early months of 2022. He was fined by the Metropolitan Police in early April for a breach of COVID restrictions by attending a birthday party in Downing Street during the pandemic; drawing heavy criticism from many politicians and journalists from across the political isle due to the perceived hypocrisy and double standards that this created. Furthermore, Sunak’s personal life would soon come to affect him for the first time in his political career as he became under heavy scrutiny due to his wife’s non-dom status, allowing her to avoid paying an estimated £20 million in taxes. This resulted in a subsequent plummet in opinion polls, with Sunak polling at a -29% negative favourability rating by the end of April 2022, according to YouGOV.
Following huge government controversy, including events of Partygate, the handling of sexual harassment allegations against Conservative MP Chris Pincher and the Owen Patterson Affair, Sunak on 5th July 2022 resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer. 2 days later, Boris Johnson would resign as Prime Minister.
Leaderships Bids:
On 8th July 2022, Rishi Sunak announced his intention to run for PM to replace Johnson, claiming he would ‘restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country.’ Many political commentators observed that Sunak was being seen to making a move to the right of the political map, especially regarding issues of gender and sex, in order to appease the typically right-wing Conservative party members who he would have to appeal to in order to win the race. His popularity amongst the Conservative Parliamentary Party would be evident as he won every round of the Conservative MP ballots, but however would go onto lose the membership vote to Liz Truss in September 2022.
44 days later, Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation, becoming the shortest serving PM in history. This left the door open for Sunak to capitalise on the opportunity to reach the summit of UK politics, with him being seen as the clear favourite from the outset. Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, announced that all candidates wishing to stand in this second leadership election in the space of 4 months would have to receive the backing of 100 MPs, rather than the 30 required during the first leadership election. On 24th October, Sunak was announced to be the only candidate to have received the backing of 100 MPs, meaning he would become the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, as well as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In the space of 7 years, he went from being elected as a backbench MP for his constituency in North Yorkshire to holding the 2 highest positions in the land and becoming the first British Asian and Hindu Prime Minister in the history of United Kingdom. With this, he entered office at 42 years old, the youngest PM since Robert Jenkinson, the 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1812.
‘It is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party I love and give back to the country I owe so much to’ – Rishi Sunak
Regardless of your political preference, the meteoric rise of Rishi Sunak within the world of politics is something that cannot be disputed, and this appointment of Sunak as PM is a proof of Britain being a country of great cultural diversity; a place where someone is able to achieve the greatest feats imagined and reach dreams never thought possible no matter your racial or cultural background
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