by SARWAR ALAM
RISHI SUNAK should be remembered
for bringing back “moral decency” to
the position of prime minister despite
the Conservative party’s heavy defeat at
last week’s general election, a long-
serving Asian parliamentarian has said.
Sunak left Downing Street last Thurs-
day (4), 20 months after he was sworn in
amid political turmoil in the party after
the departures of former prime ministers
Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.
“He (Sunak) had a lot of baggage to
carry from his predecessors and therefore
he was really trying to make the best of a
pretty difficult situation. [He had] a very
unruly and divided party, it almost felt
like he was a hostage in Downing Street,”
said the parliamentarian.
“You can see it in the period that he
was in office, he obviously was very hard-
working, decent man, trying to do the
right thing, particularly to stabilise the
economy and address some of the weak-
nesses in the Brexit deal,” they added.
Johnson was booted out by the Con-
servatives after the ‘partygate’ scandal of
lockdown law-breaking parties in Down-
ing Street. He was succeeded by Truss,
voted in by the Tory membership, who
proved to be a disastrous choice with her
catastrophic mini-budget.
In the aftermath of those departures,
the Tories turned to Sunak. Johnson chose
not to seek re-election and Truss suffered
a humiliating defeat last week. In contrast,
Sunak kept his Richmond, north York-
shirel, seat with a majority in a sign that
the electorate blamed his predecessors
more than the most recent Tory leader.
“That period of Liz Truss was the closest
to a crisis this country has got to in re cent
times, and he definitely did a very good
job of stabilising the ship and addressing
some of the fundamental things that nee-
ded to be done,” said the parliamentarian.
During his time at Downing Street, Su-
nak had to deal with factions in his party
and vocal critics such as former home
secretary Suella Braverman who publicly
attacked his policies.
“From day one, there were various fac-
tions who clearly had it in for Rishi. There
were various people with their own agen-
das that didn’t make life easy for him,”
said the parliamentarian.
“I just wish he had more courage
around managing his own party when he
immediately took office and said, ‘this is
the way it’s going to be and you’re either
with the programme or you’re not’ – re-
ally put his foot down even more.
“That’s one lesson I hope his succes-
sors will learn – that if you are always
solving the issues within your party,
you’re not putting the country first.”
The parliamentarian reflected on Su-
nak’s final speech as prime minister when
he said of the Labour leader, Sir Keir
Starmer, that “his successes will be all our
successes, and I wish him and his family
well. Whatever our disagreements in this
campaign, he is a decent public-spirited
man who I respect”.
“He restored an element of moral de-
cency to the office of prime minister,
which is what everybody expects,” the
parliamentarian said. “The very gracious
way in which he conceded showed a level
of maturity that I think was lacking in
politicians – people became sick and
tired of ‘yah-boo politics’,” they added.
Sunder Katwala, director of the think-
tank British Future, said in the long term,
people will remember the political tur-
moil Sunak inherited.
“I think history will be relatively kind
to Rishi Sunak. Despite the scale of this
defeat, I think the analysis will be that he
was dealt with an almost impos-
sible hand 12 years in,” he said.
“Sunak, I think, will be seen as a
man who tried hard to steady the
ship in very difficult economic,
geopolitical conditions. And what
he didn’t really have was a politi-
cal recipe that might have re-
quired a magic wand, but he did
put the country back on an even keel after
a very chaotic period of government, los-
ing two prime ministers within weeks,”
Katwala added.
Sunak’s popularity rose during the pan-
demic when, as chancellor, he played a
key part in navigating the country through
an unprecedented period of difficulty.
Jaffer Kapasi, a businessman and com-
munity leader in Leicester who is also the
honorary consul general of Uganda, said
Sunak should be remembered for being a
successful chancellor.
“As chancellor he introduced the job
retention scheme that helped employ-
ment and also allowed a lot of businesses
to survive,” Kapasi told Eastern Eye.
“When Liz Truss ruined the economy,
Sunak had to take charge and rectify it,
which he did because inflation came
down. Obviously, there was debate about
more taxation, but from a business and
economic point of view, he came from a
business background, he did a good job.”
Kapasi also credited Sunak for speak-
ing out after being racially abused by Re-
form party activist Andrew Parker who
called him a “f****** P***”.
“I really respect him for taking a stand
against it,” he said Kapasi.
“The country needs to see that we if
someone (Sunak) at the top of the hierar-
chy can get abused like that, imagine
what ordinary people go through. I face
this P*** thing regularly.”
The sense of pride in a British Indian
having made it to the highest office was
visible till the end, with elderly Asians
showering their blessings and handing
prayer beads to Sunak during his cam-
paign visit to the BAPS Shri Swaminaray-
an Mandir in Neasden, north London.
“His legacy will be as the first British
Indian prime minister of the United King-
dom. I think that’s a hugely symbolic mo-
ment,” said Kevin McCole, managing di-
rector of the UK Indian Business Council.
“Being part of a Diwali celebration
hosted by him at Downing Street was a
remarkably touching moment. So, I think
that would be Sunak’s legacy, rather than
this election. He’s been a great ambassa-
dor for the British Indian community,
and it really shows Britain at its multicul-
tural best, that Sunak could achieve so
much in this country.”
Lord Karan Bilimoria told Eastern Eye
that he wished Sunak had rethought
some of his policies on immigration such
as the Rwanda policy, describing it as
“impractical and inhumane” and that as
the first British-Indian prime minister, he
should have led a delegation to India.
However, he said, Sunak, who he has
known for more than a decade, has a
bright future ahead of him – although it
might not be in politics.
“I count Rishi as a friend. I have the
highest respect for him as a thoroughly
decent person and well-intentioned per-
son,” Bilimoria said.
“He’s only 44 years old. He’s been
prime minister of a G7 country. He’ll be
absolutely fine. He’s got a whole career
ahead of him. He can do anything. He’s
got his business background. He’s got a
very bright future ahead of him.
“However, I don’t see it in politics. He
may stay on as MP for a while, but I don’t
see him staying on in terms of trying to
get back in (highest level of politics).”
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Sunak hailed for integrity
in office amid Tory chaos
‘HIS TENURE IS MARKED BY GRACIOUSNESS AND MATURITY, CONTRASTING WITH DIVISIVE POLITICS’
FORMER prime minister Rishi
Sunak spent last weekend ring-
ing to apologise to his Conserva-
tive party candidates who lost
their seats in the general election
last week, a report said.
In their worst performance,
the Conservatives won just 121
seats in the Commons.
Several former MPs told the
Daily Telegraph about the “very
sympathetic call” they received
from Sunak, who won his own
seat of Richmond and North-
allerton in Yorkshire and remains
the leader of the opposition until
the party elects his successor.
He apologised to his colleagues
and the nation in his farewell
speech at Downing Street last Fri-
day (5), when he announced his
resignation as Tory leader.
“He took the time to ring me
on a last Saturday (6) night and I
think he’s taken the time to ring
other MPs. He was ringing to say
that he was incredibly sorry that
I’d lost my seat,” an unseated To-
ry MP was quoted as saying.
“To all the Conservative can-
didates and campaigners who
worked tirelessly but without
success, I am sorry that we could
not deliver what your efforts de-
served,” Sunak said in his speech.
Frontrunners to replace him
are working behind-the-scenes
to shore up their support. Former
home secretary Suella Braver-
man, who has been critical of Su-
nak’s leadership, is among the
contenders, but her campaign
received an early blow as one of
her supporters switched loyalties
to her former Home Office col-
league, Robert Jenrick.
Others lining up for the race
include two more former home
secretaries Priti Patel and James
Cleverly and former business
secretary Kemi Badenoch.
Former Conservative minis-
ters Victoria Atkins and Tom Tu-
gendhat are also likely to throw
their hat in the ring.
Party leader apologises to members for election setback
CRISIS NAVIGATOR: Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty (right) arrive
in Northallerton to cast their votes last Thursday (4); and (left from top)
Lord Karan Bilimoria; Jaffer Kapasi (right); and Sunder Katwala
© Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
FRONTRUNNER:
Priti Patel
© Carl Court/Getty Images