‘Rishi Sunak isn’t even British!’ - the talkback moment that ignited race debates as UK prepares for new PM
- Rishi Sunak is a possible contender for the role of British PM
- A talkback caller said Sunak “doesn’t love England like [former PM and possible contender for the role] Boris [Johnson] does
Rishi Sunak is lining up as one of the three main contenders to take over as British prime minister following the .
The MP is a former chancellor and secretary to treasury and educated at one of the most prestigious private schools in Britain.
But a talkback radio segment widely shared online has ignited race debates in the United Kingdom as it prepares for yet another new leader.
In the segment on Leading Britain's Conversation, host Sangita Myska receives a call from a man who identifies himself as 'Jerry', a member of the same conservative political party as Mr Sunak.
Jerry tells Myska that he believes Mr Sunak “doesn’t love England" like former prime minister and second-time contender for the role, Boris Johnson.
Despite the radio host swiftly taking the caller to task, pointing out the many reasons Mr Sunak was in fact British — including that he was born in the country — the caller digs in.
“Lots of people are [British], half of Al Qaeda are British citizens,” Jerry says.
“Have you just likened Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor and possibly the next Prime Minister, to a member of Al Qaeda?” the host asks.
"Is the real problem here, Jerry, that Rishi Sunak is a brown man and you don’t trust him at the top of this country?" she continues.
But Jerry doesn't relent, saying: “Eighty-five per cent of English people, yes, are white, English people and yes, they want to see a Prime Minister that reflects them.”
"I think you are fundamentally a racist and I think it’s absolutely fascinating to me that you and other Tory party members think like this," Myska replies, before finishing the conversation.
The talkback moment ignited debate about race and power in the United Kingdom.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
Mr Sunak was born in the United Kingdom and holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Stanford University.
His parents are both of Indian descent and were born in Kenya and Tanzania, before arriving in the UK with their families in the 1960s.
Mr Sunak met his wife while studying business at university and worked in hedge funds before entering politics in 2015.
Associate Professor Rob Manwaring from the College of Business, Government and law at Flinders University said Mr Sunak had risen through the party ranks relatively quickly.
By 2019, he’d become chief secretary to the Treasury and was credited as saving the British economy during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic through the .
“His general handling of COVID made him very well respected and so when Johnson was in trouble, he was he was often sort of sort of seen as the real powerbroker,” Mr Manwaring said.
“He was seen as someone with probably far more integrity than Boris Johnson."
Professor Manwaring said Mr Sunak could possibly be the UK’s richest politician.
Along with his wife Akshata Murty, Mr Sunak was named in the UK’s Sunday Times Rich List, with the couple’s net worth listed as £730 million (A$1.2 billion).
Ms Murty is an heiress, whose wealth comes from her stake in her billionaire father’s IT company Infosys.
Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy is an heiress to her father's fortunes he's made as founder of IT company InfoSys. Source: AAP / Neil Hall
Why has he courted controversy in the past?
Mr Sunak came under the public and media spotlight for his wife’s tax affairs and when it was revealed he’d had a US green card, which he kept even after becoming Chancellor.
“His wife claims non-domicile status, in effect, meaning that she was exempt as a British citizen and exempting her for paying tax," Professor Manwaring said.
Professor Manwaring said this was highly problematic because Mr Sunak was bringing in tax changes, for example, increases to National Insurance contributions, and other taxes.
"And yet he personally was seen as quite insulated from that, and he received really significant amount of backlash from parts of the country, and also the Conservative Party."
Mr Sunak had also filed tax returns in the US, only giving it up upon his first trip to the US as Chancellor.
While cleared of breaching any ministerial standards, he received criticism for not handing back the green card earlier.
Mr Manwaring said Mr Sunak’s wealth had ‘alienated’ him from the public.
“He famously bought trainers for hundreds of pounds and it was just seen as a sign of how out of touch he was,” he said.
Mr Manwaring said given the number of people in Britain who rely on food banks to feed their families, his lifestyle appeared out of reach for many.
Rishi Sunak's tax status has come under scrutiny in recent years. Source: AAP / Beresford Hodge
What will Rishi Sunak's leadership mean for people of colour?
If chosen as the new leader of the Conservative party, Mr Sunak will be the first British PM of colour.
Mr Manwaring said Mr Sunak's elevation to the top job would have little more than a symbolic impact on Britain.
“In one sense, Rishi Sunak, as prime minister would be a powerful and important symbol to show that, you know, people of colour of different backgrounds can make it to senior roles,” he said.
“However, what you'd also say is that you have to judge people by their actions and I wouldn't necessarily think that Rishi Sunak in any way would be advancing beyond that, that sort of more symbolic power, the rights and protections of ethnic minority communities.”
He said overall, the Conservative party had almost "no record" of tackling racism and adopting anti-racist policies.
Mr Sunak has also been accused of hypocrisy, being the grandson of immigrants from India while taking a "hard-line" on immigrants.
He supported the and has suggested housing immigrants in cruise ships.
Mr Manwaring said Mr Sunak, as part of the Cabinet, was involved in repealing the Human Rights Act which removed legal protections that were “desperately needed” for ethnic minority groups within the country.
Will Rishi Sunak become PM?
Mr Sunak is, for now, the bookmakers' favourite.
Possible contenders for the leadership must secure 100 nominations within the party to be considered.
Only former defence minister Penny Mordaunt has formally declared she will run but it is understood Mr Sunak has strong support.
While recently-ousted former PM Boris Johnson has not commented publicly about a bid for his old job, he has received the support of dozens of Conservative MPs.
The Sunday Times reported Mr Sunak and Mr Johnson could be meeting late on Saturday night (UK time), without giving details on the planned discussions.
Under the rules, only three candidates will be able to reach the first ballot of MPs on Monday afternoon, with the final two put to a vote on Friday that is limited to about 170,000 signed up members of the Conservative Party.
Mr Manwaring said Mr Johnson’s chances were all about whether he could gain enough support to make it onto the leadership ballot.
“He's quite a divisive figure because the party itself is really highly factionalised and the great question is whether Johnson can get on the ballot paper with 100 MPs and there's much misgivings about that,” he said.
Rishi Sunak had been a contender for British prime minister just a couple of months ago but Liz Truss was instead handed the role. Source: AAP / Stefan Rousseau
Mr Manwaring said while he understood Sunak had the numbers to get on the ballot, it was less clear who would win if Johnson was not in the mix and it became a battle between of Ms Mordaunt and Mr Sunak.
“It's unclear, but I mean, Sunak is probably just about the front runner,” he said.
“But there might be a rallying around, like a ‘stop Sunak’ sort of campaign,” Mr Manwaring said.
