Following the announcement that Rishi Sunak would become the UK’s first British Asian prime minister, Mancunian Matters spoke with residents and workers in central Manchester.
Sunak’s substantial personal wealth was deemed a more significant characteristic by several residents – including Francis, a joiner working in the city.
“He doesn’t represent the common man,” Francis says. “He’s just so far detached from me. He’s very, very rich.
“I suppose that’s why they’ve let him in, because he’s good at finances. But I just can’t relate to him.”
Jess, a student at the University of Manchester, echoes this sentiment: “I just think he’s just out of touch. He’s a private schoolboy. He just doesn’t have any grasp of what it’s like to be a normal person.”
Sunak is the wealthiest individual to ever hold office, with he and his wife having an estimated net worth of over £730million.
He was educated at the historic Winchester College, a public school with fees of over £45,000 per annum, and his own daughters attend a private preparatory school in South Kensington, with annual fees of £22,500 for each child.
As for the significance of Sunak’s ethnic heritage, Jess says there is none: “I don’t think [Sunak being South Asian] makes any difference.
“We’ve had female Prime Ministers who have been rubbish, so I don’t really care who you are. if you’re rubbish, you’re rubbish – regardless of the colour of your skin. it doesn’t really make a difference to me.”
Kirsty, a mother of two who works in central Manchester, held a similar view: “I don’t care what he looks like or where he’s from.
“He’s a millionaire and his wife’s a millionaire, and meanwhile, we’re struggling to pay our energy bills… How is that right? I just don’t trust him.
“But, to be honest, I don’t trust any of them.”
MP for Manchester Central and Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell expressed similar concerns, calling Sunak ‘as out of touch as the last Tory PM’.
Some Manchester residents, however, see Sunak’s rise to office as an indicator of social progress. Zack, a recent graduate who is half-Indian-Kenyan, describes the change in office as “100% significant”.
“Physically, there’s someone who looks more like me and members of my family walking into No. 10,” Zack explains.
“I think about that in terms of my father, who came to this country from Kenya as the son of Punjabis in 1964. I just think that’s huge.”
