Is Rishi Sunak too rich to rule in tough times?

LONDON (AP):

As he makes tough decisions to stem Britain’s economic crisis, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he will “always protect the most vulnerable”.

But the UK’s first prime minister of colour is also its richest-ever leader – an ex-banker who once wore Prada loafers to visit a construction site and whose family fortune is estimated at 730 million pounds (US$826 million).

Critics question whether Sunak can understand the desperation many in Britain feel as the economy staggers under the combined weight of COVID-19, Brexit, the Ukraine war and the backfiring policies of departed Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Sunak, who took office on Tuesday, is considering whether to trim state pension and welfare benefits to help cut billions from the Treasury’s bill. Meanwhile, inflation has hit a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent, and the cost of everyday items has gone up even more – pasta by 60 per cent, tea by 46 per cent, bread by 38 per cent in the past year, according to government figures.

INFLATION

A bag of frozen fries went up from 99 pence (US$1.15) to 1.37 pounds (US$1.61); a two-quart jug of milk rose from 1.17 pounds (US$1.35) to 1.52 (US$1.76) in the year to September.

“I don’t think you can understand what normal people go through if your wealth is like 730 million pounds, it’s just crazy,” said Megan Hooper, a mental health worker in London. “You can’t understand what people who live on 20 grand a year go through.”

Hooper said it made her “sick” that Sunak has not promised to keep pensions and benefits growing in line with inflation when the government sets out its tax and spending plans on November 17.

“I just don’t really think that there is any hope that he’s going to do anything to help poorer people,” she said.

As prime minister, Sunak earns 164,000 pounds ($190,000) a year – five times the average full-time UK salary, but just a fraction of his wealth.

Before he was elected to Parliament in 2015, Sunak worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and as a hedge fund manager, amassing an undisclosed personal fortune. British prime ministers are not required to publish their tax returns, and Sunak’s investments are held out of sight in a blind trust while he is in government.

The bulk of his fortune comes through his wife, Akshata Murty, whose billionaire father founded the Indian IT company Infosys. The Sunday Times estimated that her 0.93 per cent stake in the firm is worth 690 million pounds (US$800 million). By most estimates, the couple is richer than King Charles III.