By declaring early general elections in the UK on the US’ Independence Day, (July 4) Rishi Sunak has done himself a favour, and the Conservative Party too. The first Indian-origin British Prime Minister has run the gauntlet of prejudice, skewing the initial message of his rise as a sign of the UK finally becoming a land of opportunity and merit back to the old rhetoric of class and privilege. A probable Labour government may just make the UK understand what Sunak symbolises.
British media saying the PM is richer than King Charles III does not help matters. The King’s personal wealth stems from the vast lands included in the Duchy of Cornwall whose profits he enjoyed for 70 years simply because he was the Prince of Wales. Now his son William has begun to do the same as heir to the throne. But ‘Rishi Rich’ was not born into riches, nor was his jump into the ‘wealthy’ bracket helped along by Mummy and Daddy. He is a self-made man.
India had long been in thrall of inherited leadership, whether in politics or business or even civil service. But the past 40 years have seen an efflorescence of first generation achievers in the same three crucial spheres. There is a genuine appreciation of wealth creators and upward mobility: small town boys and girls are excelling in civil services entrance exams, bagging huge pay packets in multinational companies, setting up businesses and becoming ‘unicorns’.
The difference in attitudes of the British and Indian public to men like Sunak underscores how far apart the two countries have grown. Personal wealth is not a disadvantage in desi politics and the only people in Indian public life who display a similar British penchant for false modesty are those who also inherited their wealth rather than earned it. Those from that cohort can never understand why leaders of rising “backward” classes do not hide their new prosperity.
Sadly, Britons are still inclined to be more charitable towards characters like Boris Johnson, whose personal and public life—including multiple marriages and shambolic handling of the government response to the pandemic—is less than edifying. Or towards Liz Truss, who was handed the PMship for little more than her blonde hair and the promise of tax cuts. Her blundering attempt to do the latter caused the economic chaos that Sunak has been dealing with as PM.
None of the previous four Conservative PMs—all white—had the credentials that Sunak has: a middle class boy who rose from the obscurity of Southampton to become head boy of his famous school, Winchester—no mean feat for a short, skinny Indian origin Hindu. He then earned a first class bachelor’s degree from Lincoln College, Oxford and an MBA from Stanford as a Fulbright Scholar, working in between as an investment banker. His was a dream start.
But his achievements have been derided. His years at Winchester (then all boys) were used to insinuate he was a misogynistic toff, his pre-public life academic record and professional success glossed over. Even his marrying Akshata Murty—whom he met while they were both students at Stanford—and his supposedly expensive tastes are also portrayed as an unfair advantage instead of just, well, luck. Silver spoons, when earned, should not be scorned.
But he has been sneered at for wearing Prada loafers as well as Samba sneakers, for tight suits–although Boris Johnson’s sloppy sartorial sense was seen as quirky not clumsy—and even using a ‘smart cup’ for coffee. Had he consciously used more ‘ordinary’ brands, he would be promptly dubbed a hypocrite. Other short politicians (like PM-apparent Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan) are not disdained for choosing flattering camera angles, Sunak is accused of it.
Even his wife Akshata has not been spared, and by extension her billionaire parents and their hugely successful business too. Her non-domicile tax status—wherein she paid a flat £60,000 levy instead of 39% tax on her global income—was perfectly legal and her husband even declared it when he became Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson. Many high net worth UK residents do the same, but the UK media made it seem as if she was dodging paying up!
As India was once a mere British colony, the very idea of Indian billionaires is a sore point with many Britons. Even more so now as India has more billionaires today than Britain and key British brands are owned by Indians. An Indian-origin family, the Hindujas have topped the Sunday Times Rich List 2024 for the third year in a row. The Hindujas have been at either No1, No2 or No3 since 2017. India-born Laxmi Mittal and the Reuben brothers are also top 10 regulars.
The Sunaks entered this rich list in 2022—the first British PM and spouse to do so— with assets of £730 million. Their net worth fell to £529 million in 2023 and rose to £651million, mostly because of an increase in the value of their Infosys shares. This pushed them up from 275th to 245th, which is 13 places above King Charles III. Much of their fortune is invested via a blind trust, to avoid conflict of interest. But they still get grief from UK media and domestic social media.
Sunak need not have plunged into the jaundiced world of politics—by dint of the very same fortune that he is denigrated for—and instead aimed for an even higher spot on the Rich List before he hit 40. Instead, he chose public service, not from the secure perch that the “working” British royals do their duty but by the far more perilous route of the hustings. He thus put himself and his family (mainly his heiress wife) in the crosshairs of a society that is still deeply biased.
Sunak’s idea of Britain is naïve. With apologies to Dr Martin Luther King Jr for using his famous lines for a different context, the UK is far from being a nation where people are not “judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” That latter is America’s USP, where a Black man with no political legacy won the White House, not once but twice. And where a wealthy, orange-faced White man got the top job too once, and perhaps may get it again.
Had Sunak come to India to seek his political fortune (having already secured his financial one as an investment banker) he would have been welcomed as a Punjabi munda who has achieved the middle class (Indian) dream thanks to a good education and good luck. Marrying a billionaire’s beti would certainly not have been held against him as is the case in Britain. As Sunak has vowed to stay in politics, Britain has a second chance to wise up. And truly level up.