In a recent upbeat interview with The Times, Rishi Sunak talks about his life in politics and before that; about his kids and his wife and about his early life. On the quest to become the next Prime Minister of Britain, Sunak reflects back on his time at Winchester College and Oxford University, marrying Akshata Murty who he met at Stanford University and being in charge of the nation’s finances after five years as an MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer feels that education plays an important role in shaping one’s life and wants to do substantial about it if elected. He plans on creating a Russell Group of world-class technical colleges that can rival the best universities in the world. He also wants to crack down on some university degrees that put the pressure of debt on students without offering any real chance at improving life quality. The centre of Sunak’s education plan is to create a new British Baccalaureate that requires all 16-year-olds to study core subjects, including maths and English, beyond GCSE. He believes that the “overly narrow specialization” fails to prepare the youth for the “economy of tomorrow”.
When informed of a YouGov poll where he is lagging behind his rival Liz Truss by 38 percentage points, he assures that he is not giving up and plans on “love bombing” the membership into liking him. With his underdog status shifting Sunak takes his victory in Sky’s leadership debate seriously. “I’m out all the time, I’m talking to people, it feels different on the ground ... clearly, I’ve got work to do but I’m up for that and I’m throwing everything I’ve got at it”, he said.
Talking about his personal life, Rishi Sunak recalls meeting his wife, Akshata Murty while doing his MBA at Stanford and admits that there was “clearly something” between them. An avid fan of rom- coms, Rishi switched his schedule around to be in a particular class with her. He claims that the key to their relationship is their being totally different people. While she is messy, he is as organized as a person gets. The couple has two daughters, Krishna (11) and Anoushka (9). Sunak adds that he loved every aspect of childcare.
The couple recently made it on The Sunday Times rich list with a combined fortune of £730 million. This led the couple to face claims that they couldn’t understand the problems faced by their voters, which Sunak was quick to reject. He said, “I am fortunate today but I didn’t grow up like this. I worked really hard for what I’ve got, my family worked hard and that’s why I want to do this job.”
While he is concerned about the biggest interest rate rise in 27 years, he feels that all central banks underestimated both the scale and the duration of inflation and that the solution doesn’t lie in snatching the independence of the Bank of England. Sunak adds that Truss’ threat to review the central bank’s mandate would be “worrying” and is likely to “international investors”.
The leadership race candidate is confident about what he brings to the table. He said, “I’ve got what it takes to help get the country through a challenging period and make sure we emerge stronger and together on the other side”.
