By (Mrs) Amb Narinder Chauhan
History has been created with the election of Indian origin Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. One cannot but be struck by the poetic justice of it all. Sunak takes over the reins of a country that had once ruled over India for 2 centuries. Today, a person of Indian origin has returned to rule the rulers. Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980 to Indian parents who had emigrated from East Africa. Both his grandfathers were born in undivided Punjab province.
Rishi’s father was a doctor with the NHS while his mother ran a pharmacy. Rishi is married to Akshata Murthy, an Indian software entrepreneur, worth US$3.2bn and daughter of parents who founded the Indian tech giant Infosys. Many will see in Rishi Sunak’s appointment the best Diwali gift for Indians, it raises the profile of all Indians, not least the British Indians, the largest ethnic community in Britain and the biggest owners of real estate in London. Indian curry is known as the British dish.
His appointment is seen in the UK as a victory for diversity and representation in British politics. He will be UK’s first person of colour, first of Asian heritage, the first Hindu, and professedly so, to lead the country. He will also be its youngest PM at the age of 42. He announced his candidacy for the post with a view to “fix our (UK) economy”. The Pound sterling rose after the risks of further immediate political and economic upheaval receded.
Rishi Sunak’s victory became inevitable after former PM Boris Johnson pulled out of the Conservative Party leadership race to replace Liz Truss, who resigned last week after an economic upheaval. Boris Johnson had hastily returned from his Caribbean holiday to announce he was again in the fray and to secure the backing of at least 100 Conservative Party MPs to enter the contest. Sunak had the endorsement of as many as 150 MPs and the only other main contender Penny Mordaunt had the backing of less than 30 MPs.After having failed to convince Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to come together in ‘national interest’ Johnson announced his withdrawal from the race. He admitted that if he had won, he could not have governed “effectively” because of a divided party.
Had Johnson won with a majority of party members and not most party legislators, this would have left the party divided. This kind of division has been rated as destabilizing for the party and the country. Johnson is still also facing a privileges committee investigation into whether he misled Parliament over Downing Street parties during Covid 19 lockdowns. He could be forced to resign or be suspended from office if found guilty.In all this, the Opposition had made a call for the general elections, but the Conservative party, secure in its numbers and with no appetite to fight a national election during recession brought on by Covid and Ukraine war, carried the day.
Sunak would still face many challenges. As a third PMin a year, he will face problems of legitimacy. In 2019 people voted for Boris not Sunak. And there are still many loyalists of Boriswhose downfall is seen as of Sunak’s making whose resignation triggered the fall of the Johnson government. The biggest issue will be the party coming together and rallying behind Sunak. The major issue will be if he will be able to lead the party to victory in the general elections of 2024.As the saying goes, ‘two years is a long time in politics.’
Rishi Sunak first rose to prominence when aged 39 he became Finance Minister under Johnson just as Covid pandemic arrived, developing a furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns. Sunak is known to be a master of detail and sums up his approach as, ‘in God we trust but we have to bring data to the table’. He is not immune to missteps either, pictured going through policies on saving jobs with a 180-pound coffee cup on his table! He is a teetotaler while having a slick social media profile. Sunak is seen by the markets as being committed to sound economic management-a new debt cutting plan is set to be announced by the end of the month-and more likely to better oversee relations with the EU. Internal policies will occupy his immediate attention not the least being energy crises and rising household expenditures brought on by runaway inflation. He had vowed to get his country ‘out of the difficult times of inflation’ and ‘build a better and safer Britain’.
Experts in India are not certain whether a Sunak government would translate into benefits for India. It is said his win is not likely to change much in India UK ties. Compared to Johnson and Truss Sunak is a relative newcomer to Indian politicians who will have to develop a rapport with him. Both sides will take advantage of his origins, in practical measures in fast forwarding the trade deal, which ironically was supposed to have been concluded by ‘Diwali’, the auspicious day Sunak got elected. He would be expected to oblige India on immigration and visas for students, professionals, and researchers, an issue that he himself has been highlighting to Indian organizations in the UK. A ‘two-way relationship’ with India is his catch phrase. PM Modi has highlighted ‘working together on global issues and implementing Roadmap 2030’ as the priorities in his congratulatory message today to Rishi Sunak.
Rishi Sunak is also `ncredibly proud of what my parents-in-law built’ in India and hit back at attacks on his wife’s wealth while shifting her tax base to the UK. He has gone out of his way to demonstrate his ethnicity, largely in answer to the Labour Party that is more ethnically represented in the Parliament. He demonstrated that he was a devout Hindu and a regular at the temple, with his children rooted in Indian culture. Be that as it may, given his background, he may not like to over play the Indian card and may not like to overstake his ethnic connection, at least not until the next elections.
That he becomes the first British Asian to become PM is a genuinely significant moment and takes some wind out of the Labour Party which is said to represent the ethnic communities more. At the same time, he is seen very much a Tory with his elite status signified by personal wealth and prestigious schools, an alumnus of Oxford and Stanford. Many within his own Party may expect him to take some wise political and economic decisions such as calling for early general elections and not unleashing another round of austerity. The opposition has criticized him as a person with ‘no mandate, no answers and no ideas”. The Conservative Party has called on its members to unite behind Rishi Sunak as he tackles the challenges of the country. We will know more of Rishi Sunak as he makes his first policy announcements in the coming days.
Author isformer Indian Ambassador to the region.
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