The incumbent of 11 Downing street, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Treasurer, second most powerful person in Westminster politics, most powerful Asian in Whitehall EVER, most powerful Indian native in the western New World Order and the presumptive successor to Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and possibly the next Prime Minister. The Right Hon Member for Richmond, North Yorkshire – Rishi Sunak.
The glory of it all could come down crashing and most of it will be because of his wife – Akshata Murthy, her father the Hon Narayana Murthy CBE and their family business – Infosys. The company was called into question after it was reported by the Daily Mail and The Times that they were still operating in Russia and cozying up to Putin when the Chancellor’s Treasury had imposed sanctions on British firms dealing with Moscow. Sunak’s family owns shares worth £800 million in Infosys and his wife earned at least £15 million after tax for the last two quarters each, at a time when the hero of ‘Eat out to Help out’ pandemic scheme had given his family firm furlough finance.
His words and terrible PR couldn’t save him as it was shortly revealed by Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko to The Telegraph that the company was funding bullets to Russia that are killing children and civilians. Sunak’s ties to the company has attracted criticism from Labour frontbenchers as well as some Tory backbenchers and many Tory donors have lost faith in his potential rise to become the party leader. Once considered as the next Sir John Major, his marriage could now mean the beginning of the end of what was once considered his mark to make history by the many ‘firsts’ in Westminster.
The other frontrunner to succeed is Liz Truss, whose approval among hard Tories has shot up over the days. Considered as the next Thatcher, Truss has made significant progress in the government. Promoted from the role of International Trade Secretary, she now serves as the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Development Affairs and has made allies with politically like-minded across the pond in the US and Canada and the right of centre Liberal Party Australia.
The Viewpinion 