I wish Rishi Sunak well
This might surprise some but there are generations depending on Sunak’s success
Regular readers will know
I have no love for the racist crap that pervades British society. But having seen Rishi Sunak, an Indian heritage Brit become prime minister, I am hopeful for a mindset reboot.
If you don’t know, Sunak’s parents came to the U.K. as refugees. Those same parents became professionals, one as a pharmacist, the other as a GP doctor. They used the wealth those professions bring to send Rishi to the best schools they could find. Rishi returned the favour by excelling at each of his schools.
He went on to earn a good degree, went to Stanford, married well but made his own money along the way.
Rishi was pretty much parachuted into the safe Conservative MP seat of Richmond in 2015. Why? Because he’s smart. Seven years later and at the relatively tender age of 42, Rishi is the UK’s prime minister, having inherited an economic mess I’ve not seen before in my near 70 years.
His prime job today is to sort out that economic mess, assisted by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. His second job - if he has the time - is to show that with hard work and application, anything is possible.
This second job is more critical than the first because it is the primary way he can show that class, birth or chance are not the pre determinants of success. In that context I wish Rishi well. I hope he inspires a generation to believe that success is possible. I also hope that as a compassionate Hindu, he understands that the U.K.’s education system needs work to elevate those who don’t have the same economic opportunities from which he benefitted.
If Sunak and his allies are to take the U.K. forward into their vision of high value and high paid work then it can’t be the purview of those who have money or benefit solely from the financial sector. It has to be a vision that gives hope to everyone and especially makers.
The questions in my mind are this:
Will Rishi pass on his understanding of what helps bring success to all next gen Brits?
Will he be allowed to succeed by the many factions inside his fractious party?
Will he be the example that a future U.K. can follow?
I wish him well.