SWOT Analysis of Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak is a British politician who was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022 after serving as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2020. He has been the Conservative Party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015. Sunak was born in Southampton to Indian parents who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. He attended Winchester College. He went on to study philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) at Lincoln College, Oxford, and later earned an MBA as a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University in California.

Sunak was elected to the House of Commons in 2015 as the Member of Parliament for Richmond (Yorks) in North Yorkshire, succeeding William Hague. Sunak voted in favour of Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. In the 2018 reshuffle, he was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Ministry in Theresa May’s second government. Sunak supported Boris Johnson’s campaign for Conservative leader after May quit. Sunak was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Johnson when he was elected and named Prime Minister. Sunak took over as Chancellor of the Exchequer after Sajid Javid resigned in the February 2020 cabinet reshuffle.

On July 8, 2022, he declared his bid to succeed Johnson as Conservative Party leader. On July 20, he finished first among Conservative MPs, then faced Liz Truss in a postal ballot of party members. He was defeated in the Conservative leadership election by Truss. Post resignation of Liz Truss on 20th October, 2022, Sunak is leading to replace her as the next PM.

The SWOT Analysis of Rishi Sunak is presented below in a matrix format followed by the detailed analysis:

Strength

1. Strong leadership qualities to handle the economy: In order to unify the Party and restore its reputation for mature and capable leadership, Rishi Sunak possesses the seriousness of purpose, consistency of conviction and belief, talent as a communicator, and people skills. He was a leaver by conviction rather than by convenience, supporting the US leaving the EU from the beginning when it was not advantageous for his career. He is fully aware of the national mission that must now occupy all of the energies in order to combat inflation, rebuild the economy after the pandemic’s devastation, secure Brexit by taking advantage of its benefits, and increase the nation’s resilience and security both at home and abroad.

2. Successful rise as Chancellor of the Exchequer: On July 24, 2019, Prime Minister Boris Johnson named Sunak as the chief secretary to the Treasury, reporting to Chancellor Sajid Javid. The following day, he was admitted to the Privy Council. Sunak won re-election in the general election of 2019 with a majority increase of 27,210. (47.2 percent). A number of press briefings in the weeks prior to Sunak’s appointment as chancellor of the Exchequer had suggested that a new economic ministry headed by Sunak might be established in order to lessen the authority and political clout of Chancellor Sajid Javid at the Treasury. As Dominic Cummings’ preferred minister and a “rising star” who had successfully defended the Prime Minister during the 2019 election debates, Sunak was thought to be a steadfast supporter of Johnson. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Javid, on the same day, Sunak was appointed chancellor as part of a cabinet reorganisation on February 13, 2020.

3. High regard to his Indian originality: While interesting, Sunak’s Indian ancestry is neither particularly surprising nor worth comment for Britons. This field has been truly astonishingly diverse. The Indian or Hindu ancestry of Rishi Sunak was not only largely unremarkable, but it was also seen as a part of a larger kaleidoscope of diversity in British politics. By stating that he is “proud of what his father-in-law has achieved” creating a $90-billion business from nothing through solitary labor and a little bit of luck and that he wants that success emulated in the Britain he hopes to lead he confronts head-on critical press comments made about his family wealth and his Indian wife’s tax status during TV debates with other prime ministerial hopefuls.

Weakness

1. In the PM race, Rishi Sunak’s “privileged” upbringing becomes a target for the UK media: Some UK media outlets have focused on Rishi Sunak’s personal wealth as a perceived obstacle to his ability to relate to the larger British electorate experiencing post-pandemic economic turmoil. Similar criticisms of his alleged privileged upbringing and his wife Akshata Murty’s family wealth stemming from her Infosys shares have been met with resistance. With the help of an interest-free loan from his parents, the prime ministerial candidate began building his real estate portfolio at the age of 21 by purchasing a one-bedroom flat in central London for GBP 210,000, which is now estimated to be worth GBP 750,000, according to the Channel 4 investigation, which combed through land registry data. Even if he manages to win over the Conservative membership in order to secure the leadership and become Prime Minister, it may be much more difficult to win over the British people in the face of unprecedented economic turmoil.

2. May not be fit for the role of PM: Sunak is becoming a less popular minister these days due to the return of inflation, the impending tax increases Sunak announced in the autumn budget, and the anticipated significant increase in energy prices starting in April. Sunak has generally complied with Johnson’s willingness to spend. However, the party does not support the borrowing and taxation that have characterised his tenure as chancellor. Although Sunak served as chancellor during the biggest peacetime crisis in modern history, he lacks a great deal of experience. Johnson’s impending failure may be entirely his fault, but it will have an impact on the entire Tory party and beyond. Johnson’s 2019 electoral coalition might not survive his downfall. The apparent front-runners for success, Sunak and Truss, would find it difficult to continue to appeal to people in the same way Johnson did. It would be a hopeful rather than practical act to vote for him. They should be especially careful because the party did the same thing when selecting Johnson.

Opportunity

1. Leading contender to become the next prime minister: The final two contenders in the race to succeed Boris Johnson as the leader of the Conservative Party and the next prime minister of the United Kingdom are former chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss. Sunak won the fifth and final round of the leadership election with 137 votes, surpassing Truss, who finished in second place with 113 votes, despite having previously won every ballot. Sunak has maintained his popularity among Tory MPs. Sunak, whose resignation from the cabinet on July 5 signaled the beginning of the end of Boris Johnson’s administration, claimed that he “is the only candidate” who can defeat the Labour party in the upcoming general elections and that the economic policies he implemented as finance minister “helped get through this nation through an immensely challenging period over the last couple of years.” Thus, Rishi Sunak has a high chance to be the next Prime Minister of UK. After the resignation of Liz Truss on 20th October, Sunak is the hot favorite to become the next PM.

Threat

1. Loss of people’s trust due to tax controversy: The uproar started when it was revealed in British media that Akshata Murty, Rishi Sunak’s wife, was subject to non-dom taxation in the UK. This essentially means that foreign corporation dividends are not subject to taxation. Akshata receives annual dividends from her ownership of Infosys that total around Rs 11.56 crore. She also claims non-dom tax status in the nation, which she uses to avoid paying taxes on the annual dividend benefits she receives. As the finance minister or Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak announced a number of tax increases that took effect this month. Thus, the news that the Chancellor’s wife has been evading British taxes has caused quite a stir in the country at a time when the pandemic has caught everyone off guard and businesses are still reeling from the devastation.

2. Faced criticism during his period as Chancellor of Exchequer: Sunak was able to advance quickly through the Conservative party in a short period of time, but during his tenure as chancellor, he received harsh criticism from the opposition and the general public. According to reports, Sunak received criticism for failing to provide adequate financial assistance to households during the Covid-19 lockdown. According to Reuters, his tax-and-spend budget for 2021, which would see the government raise taxes on the general population in order to spend the money on the general population later, would also put Britain on track to have its highest tax burden in about 70 years, undermining his arguments for supporting lower taxes. Inflation in the UK reached its highest level in 40 years during his time as chancellor, rising by 9% in April of this year despite warnings from the Bank of England that it would rise by another 1%. As a result, several unions in the UK have started going on strike in order to demand higher pay. Over 40,000 rail workers participated in the country’s largest rail strike in 30 years last month, and additional groups have threatened to take industrial action as well.

3. Low support from party members against his rival: Rishi Sunak may have won the leadership vote among Conservative MPs, but he will now have to appeal to 160,000 or so grassroots Conservative members, who have so far appeared to be largely resistant to his charms. In surveys conducted among party members, Sunak has consistently had trouble.

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