Rishi Sunak | The rising star in a tangle

The Conservative Minister’s popularity plunges after a series of controversies 

In the 2015 general elections in the United Kingdom, when political newbie Rishi Sunak secured a win from Richmond (Yorks) to become an MP, taking the seat from the former Foreign Secretary William Hague, he had said: “I have impossible boots to fill.”

The Indian-origin MP did step into the boots and was fairly quick, galloping on a political journey that involved serving as the Parliament Under-Secretary in former Prime Minister Theresa May’s second term, being appointed as the Treasury Chief Secretary when Boris Johnson took charge in 2019, and finally, his appointment to the country’s second most important government position, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 2020. Mr. Sunak’s growth made itself evident when poll ratings and political pundits in Britain pegged him as more popular than his own boss Mr. Johnson. The 41-year-old Finance Minister was seen as one of the frontrunners to become the UK’s next Prime Minister.

This started to change last month when the Conservative Party Chancellor faced criticism for his handling of Britain’s worst cost of living crisis since 1972.

This was followed by the news that his wife Akshaya Murthy, the daughter of N.R. Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Indian IT services giant Infosys, claims a non-domiciled tax status in the UK. Ms. Murthy holds a 0.93% or a $900 million (£690 million) stake in Infosys, receiving an annual dividend benefit of £11.5 million on her holdings. The non-dom status attracted Opposition fury as it meant that the Finance Minister’s wife does not have to pay British taxes on foreign dividends at a time when citizens face the highest levels of taxation since the 1940s. As damage control, Ms. Murthy eventually announced that she would be paying all her taxes in the UK to avoid the matter becoming a "distraction" for her husband’s political career. It was also revealed recently that until October 2021, Mr. Sunak held a US green card and filed American tax returns as a non-resident of the country. This also attracted questions from opponents if he received any tax advantages due to the card.

In the wake of the ongoing row, the chancellor offered himself for an independent review of his family’s tax arrangements by one of the Prime Minister’s independent advisors.

The final straw for the embattled Minister came on April 12, when he, along with Mr. Johnson was fined for a controversy dubbed ‘partygate’, for reportedly breaching COVID-19 restrictions by attending Mr. Johnson’s birthday gathering in June 2020.

The Southhampton-born son of Indian-origin parents, Mr. Sunak studied in the exclusive Winchester private boarding school. His father serves as a general physician with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), and his mother runs an independent pharmacy. He received a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford.