According to ‘The Sunday Telegraph’, 48% of the voters believe that Rishi Sunak, the Indian Origin leader, will be a good Prime Minister.
Who is Rishi Sunak?
When PM Boris Johnson announced his resignation, on the very next day, an Indian-origin leader announced his candidature for the UK’s next PM as well as the leader of the Conservative Party. While stressing the values of ‘patriotism, fairness, and hard work’, 42 years old, Rishi Sunak started his campaign with a video on social media with #Ready4Rishi.
Personal Details: Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton to Indian-origin parents. His mother ran a local pharmacy store while his father was associated with the National Health Service. His grandparents, born in Punjab, moved to Britain in the 1960s to take up administrative jobs. His alma matter includes elite private school Winchester College, Oxford University, and Stanford University, and the prestigious Full Bright scholarship. He has the experience of working as an Investment Banker at various hedge funds including Goldman Sachs. He tied knots with Akshata Murthy, daughter of Narayan Murthy in 2009.
Political Career: Sunak stepped into politics in 2015, when he was elected for Richmond, Yorkshire as the Conservative MP. In 2019, he became the Chief Secretary of the Treasure. In the following year’s cabinet reshuffle, he was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer (third post in ministerial ranking, right behind Deputy PM and the PM).
What do the Opinion Polls say?
JL Partners of more than 4,400 people, 48% voters stood for Rishi Sunak as per ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ reports.
Other Candidates for the PM:
Second: Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stands with 39% backing
Third: Trade Minister, Penny Mordaunt gained support of 33%
Fourth: former Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch
Fifth: Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, Tom Tugendhat
“Sunak invites strong opinions. One-third of voters think he would be good in the top job, one third do not. But in an unpopular field where every other candidate is in the net-negative territory, this score draw makes him the public’s favorite. He is particularly popular with the all-important 2019 Conservative voter, as the only candidate to have half approve of him”
James Johnson, the co-founder of JL Partners and a former Downing Street pollster, believes that
According to the voters, the popular policy priorities are as follows:
First, turning around the Economy. This is followed by solving the National Health Service backlog as second. Next, is the re-instituting of trust and integrity in public life. Lastly, is the reduction in taxes-this has come out as the central emphasis of all the debates so far.
The JL Partners poll, surveyed the voters about the attributes they are looking for in a new leader. Results show that 24% of the overall voters and 19% of Conservative supporters wanted a ‘truthful’ leader.
“While the public chew over the economy, the NHS, and public trust, Conservative MPs may have a much simpler question: who is the best candidate to hold their seat? On this evidence, the answer is Mr. Sunak,” added Mr. James Johnson.
The Conservative Home Poll:
The Conservative Home poll of 851 Tory party members gave the 11-point lead to Badenoch, with 31% of members wanting her to be the next leader.
The others secured the following places:
Second, Truss with 20%
Third, Mordaunt with 18%
Fourth, Sunak with 17%
Fifth, Tom Tugendhat
Mr. Sunak managed to get the highest votes in the first two rounds of voting among Tory MPs in the past week. He secured 88 votes and 101 MPs backing in the first and second round of parliamentary ballots respectively. The coming few rounds of voting, in the coming week, will further narrow down the field, for only two in the race.
We can all excitingly wait for the announcement of the new PM on September 5.
