Rishi Sunak will be Britain’s first non-white PM, reflecting the changing contours of British society.
Seema Guha
UPDATED: 25 OCT 2022
Indian-origin Tory leader Rishi Sunak is all set to be Britain’s new Prime Minister with Penny Mordaunt failing to make the cut and Boris Johnson dropping out of the race on Sunday. The 42-year-old Sunak, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Boris Johnson’s cabinet will be Britain’s first Prime Minister of colour reflecting the country’s current multicultural identity. He is also the first non-Christian chosen for the highest office. Sunak is a practising Hindu.
His anointment by the Conservative party members is a turning point in British history, something that would not have been possible even a decade ago. “It shows that public service in the highest office in Britain can be open to those of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. This will be a source of pride to many British Asians – including many who do not share Rishi Sunak’s Conservative politics” Sunder Katwala of British Future, a think-tank dealing with integration and race.
Sunak will be the youngest prime minister of Britain in 200 years according to reports in the local press. Luckily for Sunak, Penny Mordaunt’s decision to withdraw from the contest ensured that the process did not involve voting by members of the Conservative party. In September, during Sunak’s unsuccessful bid against Liz Truss, while he got the backing of the MPs the party voted overwhelmingly for Truss.
The Conservative party leaders will be happy that the matter did not go to the ordinary members of the party as Britain desperately needs a stable government to quickly get to work. Sunak faces a daunting challenge and needs the support of every section of the Conservative party which is at the moment ridden with factional in-fighting. Sunak will have to hit the ground running as he tries to bring political stability and get the economy back on the rails. Britain is facing multiple problems, including inflation at 10.1 per cent, a 40-year high, and the cost of living spiralling at the back of higher energy and food costs. The nation's national health system is creaking and needs an urgent infusion of funds. With the onset of winter, ensuring heating for vulnerable sections will be a major headache for the government. Add to this the Bank of England’s prediction of a recession in the coming months.
The opposition is calling for fresh elections and has pointed out that Sunak does not have the people’s mandate. He has been elected only by members of the Conservative Parliamentary Party. Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, tweeted, "The Tories have crowned Rishi Sunak without him saying a word about what he would do as PM. He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas. Nobody voted for this. The public deserves their say on Britain’s future through a General Election. It’s time for a fresh start with Labour.”
Ethnic minorities of Britain, whether Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan or the Caribbean have traditionally supported the Labour Party as it was more attuned to the problems they faced. There were very few from the immigrant communities that voted Conservative. It was former prime minister David Cameron, who, noting the changing contours of the UK’s population, first pushed for getting the non-Whites into the party. He realised that for the future growth of the party, it needed to look beyond its traditional vote bank and widen its appeal by weaning the immigrant Browns and Blacks to the Tory fold. That initiative by Cameron was followed by others in the Conservative party, with the result that today there is a good representation of people of colour in the party. However, this is usually confined to the more affluent sections with the majority of the working class people of colour preferring to stay with Labour. A large section of rich Indian-origin British citizens over the last decade have veered to the Conservative camp.
Boris Johnson’s cabinet in 2019, had the most ethnically diverse cabinet that Britain had ever seen. There was Sajid Javid as chancellor of the exchequer, who however quit early on because of interference from the PMO. He was replaced by Rishi Sunak. Javid later became health secretary. Priti Patel was the home secretary, Alok Sharma the international development secretary, and Kwasi Kwarteng was the minister for business, energy and industrial strategy. James Cleverley was the party chairman. These coloured ethnic minorities represented 18 per cent of Johnson’s cabinet.
Before Johnson’s tenure, not many people of colour were full cabinet ministers. The earlier appointments to cabinet posts were only a handful. They were Paul Boateng, chief secretary to the treasury and Valerie Amos, international development secretary and leader of the House of Lords, both under Tony Blair (Labour). Sayeeda Warsi, minister without portfolio, Sajid Javid, secretary of state for culture, media and sports and secretary of state business, innovation and skills both when David Cameron was PM( Conservative). Theresa May, who succeeded Cameron, appointed Sajid Javid as secretary of state for housing, communities and local government and home secretary. May also appointed Priti Patel as secretary of state for international development.
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Proud Of Him: Narayana Murthy On Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak Wins Tory Contest To Make History As UK’s First Indian-Origin PM
Circumstances have offered Rishi Sunak a chance to take on the highest office, if he fails it will be difficult for the next person of colour to take on the leadership of Britain.
New leader of Britain's Conservative Party Rishi Sunak walks outside the party's headquarters in London, Britain October 24, 2022. ― Reuters pic
Tuesday, 25 Oct 2022 1:29 PM MYT
NEW DELHI, Oct 25 ― Rishi Sunak will do his best for Britain when he takes over as prime minister today, said his father-in-law, Indian billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, the founder of software giant Infosys.
The 42-year-old, a practising Hindu who traces his roots to India, will be Britain's first prime minister of colour and its youngest leader in modern times.
Sunak's rise to the position on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, has delighted Indians, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hoped the two countries' ties would improve further.
“Congratulations to Rishi,” Murthy, who is valued by Forbes at US$4.5 billion (RM21.3 billion), said in a statement published by Reuters partner ANI.
“We are confident he will do his best for the people of the United Kingdom.”
Many Indian politicians also hailed Sunak's elevation as a “historic and remarkable feat” and he trended on Twitter in India late yesterday.
Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy is an Indian citizen, with a stake of 0.93 per cent in Infosys valued at about US$721 million, and the couple's wealth has been a divisive issue for the British public.
Revelations that she had not been paying British tax on her foreign income through her “non-domiciled” status ― available to foreign nationals who do not see Britain as their permanent home ― had hurt Sunak ahead of his earlier race for the top job.
Later his wife said she would start to pay British tax on her global income. ― Reuters
Rishi Sunak to become Britain's first prime minister of colour
LONDON - Rishi Sunak will become Britain's first prime minister of colour on Tuesday (Oct 25) after he won the race to lead the Conservative Party, tasked with steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer.
One of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, Sunak, 42, will become the country's youngest leader in modern times - and its third in less than two months - as he takes over during one of the most turbulent eras in British political history.
He replaces Liz Truss, who only lasted 44 days before she said she would resign, needing to restore stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil and seeking to lead a party that has fractured along ideological lines.
He told his lawmakers in parliament on Monday that they faced an "existential crisis" and must "unite or die". He told the country it faced a "profound economic challenge".
"We now need stability and unity, and I will make it my utmost priority to bring our party and our country together," he said.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss will be expected to make deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain's fiscal reputation, just as the country slides into one of the toughest downturns in decades, hit by the surging cost of energy and food.
A recent mini budget by Truss, which triggered her downfall, pushed up borrowing costs and mortgage rates, and sent investors fleeing. British government bonds rallied aggressively in the run-up to Sunak's victory, and extended their gains on Monday.
Sunak, who will be appointed prime minister by King Charles on Tuesday, will also have to work hard to hold Britain's dominant political party together after some accused him of treachery earlier this year when he resigned from the cabinet of former leader Boris Johnson, triggering his downfall too.
Other Conservatives say he is too rich to understand the day-to-day economic pressures building in Britain, and worry whether he could ever win an election for a party that has been in power for 12 years.
"I think this decision sinks us as a party for the next election," one Conservative lawmaker told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Perma-crisis
Britain has been locked in a state of perma-crisis ever since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, unleashing a battle at Westminster over the future of the country that remains unresolved to this day.
Johnson, the face of the Brexit vote, led his party to a landslide victory in 2019, only to be driven out of office less than three years later after a series of scandals. His successor Truss lasted just over six weeks before she too was forced out.
Historian and political biographer Anthony Seldon told Reuters that Sunak had the most difficult economic and political inheritance of any British leader since World War Two, and would be constrained by the mistakes made by his predecessor Truss.
"There is no leeway on him being anything other than extraordinarily conservative and cautious," he said.
He added that Sunak had shown composure when he became finance minister just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit Britain.
Amid the turmoil, polls show that Britons want an election. The Conservatives do not have to hold one until January 2025.
Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the Conservatives had "crowned Rishi Sunak as prime minister without him saying a single word about how he would run the country and without anyone having the chance to vote."
Labour has held record leads in opinion polls of more than 25 points ever since Truss's budget sent shockwaves through financial markets.
Economists and investors welcomed Sunak's appointment, but questioned whether he can tackle the country's finances while holding the party's warring factions together.
Many Conservative lawmakers appeared relieved that the party had at least selected a new leader quickly.
Penny Mordaunt, who lost out to Sunak, said his election was an "historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party," she said. "Rishi has my full support."
Veteran lawmaker Crispin Blunt told Reuters after Sunak met lawmakers in a room in parliament: "The party will remain united, not least because we don't have a choice. In there, he showed a capacity to marshal the whole party."
Indian origin
The first real test of unity will come on Oct. 31, when finance minister Jeremy Hunt - the fourth person in the role in four months - is due to present a budget to plug a black hole in the public finances that is expected to have ballooned to up to 40 billion pounds.
The task will be helped by a recovery in the bond market, with the 30-year gilt , which suffered unprecedented losses after the mini-budget on Sept. 23, now recovered to levels close to those seen early on that day.
Sunak's appointment is another first for Britain - he will become the country's first prime minister of Indian origin.
His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain's former colonies moved to the country to help it rebuild after World War Two.
Sunak attended Oxford University and Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd. Among the many messages of support, he received "warmest congratulations" from Indian leader Narendra Modi.
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