Rishi Sunak
Politics
FOR those watching closely, the two most
powerful politicians in the United Kingdom,
who live next door to one another, may soon
have to have a reckoning.
The big political question this year is: did Ri-
shi betray Boris, or did he say what was on eve-
ryone’s mind, but they were too scared to put
their head above the parapet?
For the past few months, the Conservative
party has been in free-fall since the revelations
that the prime minister was involved in a series
of potential breaches of lockdown rules. So
much so, the Metropolitan Police are investi-
gating a sitting prime minister, and it could
cost Johnson his premiership if he is found to
have misled parliament.
Not only that, the prime minister also tried
to divert attention by making a fake slur against
the Labour leader, for which he will not apolo-
gise. In the middle of this series of unfortunate
political errors, his neighbour at Number 11
was asked whether the prime minister should
apologise and withdraw his allegation that Keir
Starmer was responsible for not prosecuting
the serial sex offender, Jimmy Savile. “Dishy”
Rishi, as he is known responded, “Being hon-
est, I wouldn’t have said it and I’m glad the PM
clarified what he meant.”
It has divided the party, and the man who is
so careful, may have made an error of judge-
ment, no matter how true his answer.
Valentine’s Day will forever have an added
piquancy for the current occupant of Number
11 Downing Street. It was the day when his
very good friend, and then boss, Sajid Javid, re-
signed after the prime minister ordered him to
fire his aides. Johnson immediately promoted
Sunak from Treasury chief secretary to chan-
cellor. The MP for Richmond in north Yorkshire
had just four weeks to deliver his first budget,
something his predecessor never got to do. Not
only that, Sunak had to do so in the middle of a
global pandemic, and he won huge plaudits on
his side of the aisle, business and the NHS.
“The biggest rabbit he pulled out of the hat,
which was the furlough scheme, is undoubted-
ly one of the things I would say has been pivot-
al in retaining some economic stability and
personal security for a lot of people in the
country,” says one Westminster insider, who
did not wish to be named.
“To do that as a relatively new chancellor – at
that point he wasn’t even 40 years old – it was a
huge responsibility on relatively young, let’s be
clear, pretty inexperienced, shoulders.”
Sunak cuts a dashing figure; some have desc r-
i b ed him as the Conservative equivalent of Lab o-
ur’s Tony Blair when he took over his party in
1994. Indeed, the Daily Mail, the bastion of wh i-
te, middle England, heralded him “PM in waiti-
ng”. Speak to many and, at this moment, the mo-
st used word to describe Sunak is “impressive”.
Sunak has achieved more in his 40 years
than many of us will in a lifetime. Head boy at
the independent boarding school, Winchester
Prime minister in waiting?
Chancellor Sunak is poised for the top job
COMMITTED:
Rishi Sunak
GG2 Power List
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GG2 Power List | 2022