Rishi Sunak doesn’t merely look aloof – he appears to think the rules don’t apply to him
Polling companies often ask voters to pick a description from a list of phrases that they most associate with political leaders. When YouGov did this for Rishi Sunak in late March, the words people thought best characterised the prime minister was “out of touch”. This is hardly surprising. The family fortune is so big that he and his wife, Akshata Murty, appear on the Sunday Times rich list. He can not only afford a private swimming pool but also to pay to upgrade the local electricity grid to heat it. But the news that the prime minister is being investigated by the Commons standards watchdog over a failure to declare his wife’s interest in a childcare business that may benefit from his government’s budget is about more than mere wealth. It suggests that Mr Sunak is not just aloof but he thinks that the rules don’t apply to him.
Mr Sunak knows how toxic that charge can be – as it helped end Boris Johnson’s stint in Downing Street. The prime minister might dismiss the comparison. He says he did register his wife’s shares in Koru Kids, a private childminding agency that is taking part in a government pilot, with the Cabinet Office. The trouble is a statement of ministers’ interests has yet to be published. There are thus no public records available that Mr Sunak has registered his wife’s commercial interests.
