Man who predicted chaos: what many Tory MPs think of UK leadership favourite Rishi Sunak

It's time for Tories to decide if time has come for one-time golden boy to shine as leader

Former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak. Reuters

Many Conservatives believe former chancellor Rishi Sunak is the clear choice to steer Britain’s economy back towards stability, having largely predicted the turmoil unleashed by Liz Truss’s tax-cutting agenda.

To some other MPs, Mr Sunak is still the traitor who brought down Boris Johnson, raising the question of whether he can unite a fractious Conservative Party.

Once the golden boy of the Tory party, Mr Sunak clearly believes he has a chance of convincing them he can, taking another tilt at 10 Downing Street just over six weeks after losing out last time.

He was defeated in the last Tory leadership race as the party membership picked rival Ms Truss, winning 60,399 votes to her 81,326.

In that contest, Mr Sunak positioned himself as the candidate prepared to tell hard truths about the state of the public finances rather than “comforting fairy tales”.

He remained resolute in the view that his rival’s promises of unfunded tax cuts at a time of worsening inflation were irresponsible, dangerous and “un-Conservative”, predicting that they would lead to surging mortgage rates.

After Ms Truss took office, her disastrous mini-budget brought turbulence in the financial markets and forced the Bank of England to intervene, proving Mr Sunak right.

He kept a low profile as the chaos continued, staying away from the annual Tory party conference, which was overshadowed by the retreat on a flagship policy to scrap the 45 per cent rate of income tax.

Rishi Sunak through the years - in pictures

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  British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces July 4 as the date for the 2024 general election at No 10 Downing Street. Here, The National looks back at his political career. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak during local election campaigning in Teesside in May 2024. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak presents cupcakes to journalists on board a plane on the way to Warsaw in April 2024. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak during a press conference in Downing Street in January after the Safety of Rwanda Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons. Getty Images

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  Being applauded after his speech at the Conservative Party conference in October 2023. Getty Images

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  Looking pensive alongside then-home secretary Suella Braverman at No 10 in October 2023. She didn't last much longer in the cabinet. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak sits in an old Special Branch police vehicle which was used to transport former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, in July 2023. Getty Images

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  On board Border Agency cutter HMC Seeker during a visit to Dover in June 2023. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the G7 Summit in May 2023. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty arriving in Japan ahead of the G7 Summit in May 2023. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt sending a message at Accrington Market Hall in January 2023. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in Ukraine's capital Kyiv in November 2022. Getty Images

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  King Charles III welcomes Mr Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government in October 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak makes a statement outside No 10 in October 2022 after taking office. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak arrives inside Number 10 in October 2022. Photo: Simon Walker/ No 10 Downing Street

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  Greeted by colleagues at Conservative Party HQ after having been announced winner of the leadership contest in October 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak at Westminster Hall in London following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. PA

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  Mr Sunak visits his family's old business, Bassett Pharmacy, on the campaign trail in August 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak looks at an NLAW anti-tank launcher during a visit to the Thales Defence System plant in Belfast in August 2022. Getty Images

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  At a hustings event in Exeter in August 2022. Getty Images

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  Celebrates England's first goal as he watches the Women's Euro 2022 final in Salisbury in July 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak and Ms Truss take part in the BBC Leadership debate at Victoria Hall, Hanley, in July 2022. Getty Images

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  With daughters Krisna and Anoushka and wife Akshata Murthy in July 2022. Getty Images

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  Opening the Great Ayton Village Fete during the queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak and Ms Murthy speak to then-Prince Charles at a British Asian Trust event in February 2022. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak arrives at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021 when he was chancellor. Getty Images

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  Holding the budget box as he departs 11 Downing Street to deliver his Autumn Budget in October 2021. Getty Images

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  At a press conference on the 2021 Budget in London in March 2021. Getty Images

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  With former prime minister Boris Johnson during a visit to PD Ports on the River Tees in March 2021. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak poses with the budget box at 11 Downing Street in March 2021. Getty Images

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  Meeting staff back at work after being furloughed at Hamleys toy shop in London, December 2020. Photo: HM Treasury

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  Mr Sunak visits the Imperial Clinic Research Facility at Hammersmith Hospital, London, in November 2020. Getty Images

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  Lighting a candle for Diwali on Downing Street, November 2020. Getty Images

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  Working on a speech in his flat above 11 Downing Street in November 2020. Photo: HM Treasury

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  Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak visit the headquarters of Octopus Energy in London in October 2020. Getty Images

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  With his 'Winter Economy Plan' outside 11 Downing Street in September 2020. AFP

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  Decorating a plate at Emma Bridgewater pottery in Stoke pottery in September 2020. Getty Images

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  Promoting 'eat out to help out' on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, in August 2020. Getty Images

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  A member of the public takes a selfie with Rishi Sunak during a visit to Scotland in August 2020. AFP

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  Visiting a Wagamama restaurant in central London in July 2020. Photo: HM Treasury

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  Rishi Sunak visits a Pret A Manger in Westminster in July 2020. HM Treasury

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  With Mr Johnson at his first Cabinet meeting after a reshuffle at 10 Downing Street in February 2020. Getty Images

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  Mr Sunak speaks during a general election debate in Cardiff in November 2019. Getty Images

Accusations in the last leadership race that he represented “Treasury orthodoxy” and a “gloomster” mentality could speak in Mr Sunak's favour this time, as many will be reassured by his undoubted experience in handling the economy and his practical approach.

He secured a string of endorsements from MPs before declaring he would run, with backers highlighting his “calm competence” and portraying him as a “serious person for serious times”.

At the start of the pandemic, he was the most popular politician in the country as he introduced an unprecedented furlough scheme that saved millions of jobs as the economy ground to a halt.

His ambitions had been scarcely concealed since the day he entered 11 Downing Street, with personalised branding on carefully curated social media content to boost his public profile, along with a concerted campaign to woo MPs.

Mr Sunak's meteoric rise under Mr Johnson quickly made him the Cabinet minister tipped to be the most likely successor.

Everything you need to know about Rishi Sunak — video

He was born in 1980 in Southampton, the son of parents of Punjabi descent. Mr Sunak’s father was a doctor and his mother ran a pharmacy, where he helped her with the books.

After private schooling at Winchester College, where he was head boy, and a degree in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford, he took an MBA at Stanford University in California where he met his wife, Akshata Murty, the daughter of India’s sixth richest man.

A successful business career, with spells at Goldman Sachs and as a hedge fund manager, meant by the time he decided to enter politics in his early 30s Mr Sunak was already independently wealthy.

In 2014 he was selected as the Tory candidate for the ultra-safe seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire and was elected in the general election the following year.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum Mr Sunak supported the “Leave” campaign, to the reported dismay of David Cameron who saw him as one of the Conservatives’ brightest prospects among the new intake.

Given his first government post as a junior local government minister by Mr Cameron’s successor, Theresa May, he was an early backer of Mr Johnson for leader when she was forced out amid the fallout over Brexit.

When Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, there was swift reward with a dramatic promotion to the Cabinet as Treasury chief secretary.

An even bigger step up followed in February 2020 when Sajid Javid quit as chancellor after rejecting a demand to sack all his advisers, and Mr Sunak was put in charge of the nation’s finances at the age of just 39.

The increasingly rapid spread of Covid-19 meant his mettle was swiftly tested. Within a two weeks of his first Budget he was effectively forced to rip up his financial plans as the country went into lockdown.

Mr Sunak, who saw himself as a traditional small-state, low-tax Conservative, began pumping out hundreds of billions in government cash as the economy was put on life support.

But as the country emerged from the pandemic, some of the gloss began to wear off amid growing tension with his neighbour in No 10 and anger among Tory MPs over rising taxes as he sought to rebuild public finances.

To add to his woes, Mr Sunak was caught up in the “partygate” scandal, receiving a fine along with Mr Johnson for attending a gathering to mark the prime minister’s 56th birthday, even though he claimed to have gone into No 10 only to attend a meeting.

There were more questions when it emerged his wife had “non-domiciled” status for tax purposes, an arrangement that reportedly saved her millions, while he had kept a US green card, entitling him to permanent residence in the US.

For a man known for his fondness for expensive gadgets and fashionable accessories, and who still has an apartment in Santa Monica, it all looked dangerously out of touch at a time when soaring prices were putting a financial squeeze on millions across the country.

Mr Sunak's frustrations with Mr Johnson’s chaotic style of government, various scandals and a deepening rift over policy, finally spilt over and he resigned, prompting the rush for the door by other ministers that forced the prime minister to resign.

Mr Sunak has been unrepentant over his decision to quit, even as he admitted it was a decision that may have damaged his standing among grassroots supporters who had picked Mr Johnson as prime minister only a few years earlier.

It remains to be seen whether his colleagues, and the party faithful, are ready to forgive him for the slight, and whether the time has come for this one-time golden boy to shine.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman said Mr Sunak is the right person for the job.

Writing in The Telegraph, she said the Conservative Party “is divided and heading towards a wipeout”.

“Things need to change. We, as a party, need to change. We need to provide leadership, stability and confidence to the British people,” she wrote.

“We cannot indulge in parochial or nativist fantasies. Yes, I want a leader of our party and our country to inspire hope for a better future and raise our spirits. And I need a leader who will put our house in order and apply a steady, careful hand on the tiller. That person, for me, is Rishi Sunak.”

MP Kemi Badenoch said Mr Sunak is a “unifying figure” who will do what is right for the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi, who had been backing Mr Johnson but switched to Mr Sunak following his withdrawal, said the former chancellor is “immensely talented”.

“Rishi is immensely talented, will command a strong majority in the parliamentary Conservative Party, and will have my full support and loyalty,” he tweeted on Monday.

Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, has declared his support for Mr Sunak, saying he will “rebuild the extraordinary potential” of the country's economy.

“With Rishi Sunak, we have someone who, in our best traditions, will turn the page on what went wrong, take decisions in the national interest and rebuild the extraordinary potential of our economy,” he wrote in The Telegraph.