Rishi Sunak premiership offers a moment of reflection

Rishi Sunak became the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of colour and the first Hindu to hold that post. It is the first time that it is being led by a non-white person. His parents migrated from East Africa where the Indian origin minorities were discriminated against in the 1960s.

At the age of 42 he is also the youngest prime minister in over 100 years. Sunak is not the poster child of a rags to riches success story of migrant families. His father was a doctor, and his mother ran a pharmacy. He was educated privately at elite schools, first at Winchester College, and then at Oxford. Helped through his privileged upbringing he made his own fortune as an investment banker before entering Parliament in 2015. The Times of London estimated this year that Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, were worth more than $ 800 million, placing them among the 250 wealthiest British people or families. His wife, a fashion designer, is the daughter of the billionaire founder of the technology company Infosys.

Irrespective of Sunak’s wealth, privileged upbringing and politics, the fact that the Conservative party has appointed a member of a minority as its leader and propelled him to the highest political office in the land is significant. The UK has a long way to go to reconcile with its ugly colonial past which had subjugated, colonised and pilfered many peoples and lands across the globe. As a country it has never apologised or accepted responsibility for any of the harm done in the past. The mere appointment of a person of colour does not negate those crimes nor absolve the UK of its past.

However, it does offer a moment of reflection of the evolution of British society in the last few decades. All indications, both academic and anecdotal, suggest that Britain is a less racist country today than it was four or five decades ago. These are results of deliberate action and sound policies that have allowed minority communities to integrate into the greater society.

Imperfect as the UK may be, it does offer a valuable lesson in inclusivity and diversity to many countries, especially in our part of the world. The only time a person belonging to a minority community came even close to ascending to high office was when Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was considered for premiership by President Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2005. That attempt was quickly scuttled by those who could not accept a Tamil becoming the prime minister. Forgetting race and religion, Sri Lankan political parties have hardly ventured beyond caste when selecting leaders. Leadership of the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party have been often determined by caste with individuals being denied their due place due to these regressive considerations.

Furthermore, the average mean age of the United Kingdom is 40 years while it is 34 in Sri Lanka. This means that there is a far older population in the UK than ours. Yet it has now appointed a prime minister who is 42 years old and better representing the population. On the other hand the presidency has been changing between a small group of geriatrics in the past 20 years with the current president and prime minister being well into their seventies.  

Whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be successful or not is yet to be determined. However, his appointment to high office does offer a very important moment of reflection in the UK and elsewhere.