The Rishi Raj Challenges & Pitfalls

Even as india celebrates one of its own moving into 10, downing street, rishi sunak faces the daunting challenge of pulling the uk economy back from the brink

- Shafi Rahman

RESOLUTE RISHI Rishi Sunak speaks at an event as part of his campaign to become the Conservative Party leader, Aug. 23

In 1869, telegraph pioneer John Pender set up the British Indian Submarine Telegraph Company to lay undersea cables from Britain to India. When English author John Ruskin was told about the venture, he asked, half in jest: "I wonder what the message will be." A century and a half later, a man of Indian descent, well-tailored and whipsmart, has become a powerful message unto himself, to a country that has itself has become a joke as it grapples with an economic crisis and political instability. Former hedge-fund manager Rishi Sunak has become the youngest prime minister of Britain in 200 years, and the first person of colour and the first practising Hindu to hold that office.

The lights had long dimmed on the Empire where the sun never set and on Diwali day this year, Westminster was drowned in a festive light of diversity, as the Empire struck back in style. Even Labour peer Paul Boateng could scarcely contain his joy: "Britain has shown the world that you can have a truly multi-racial democracy and it's something I've fought for all my life." For Sunak, it has been an astonishing race to the top. He was the first minister to quit the scandal-scarred Boris Johnson cabinet on July 5, which marked the beginning of the end of BoJo's government. Soon, he became one of the two candidates in the prime ministerial race after winning the backing of the majority of Conservative MPs. Later, he failed to win the hearts of Tory members against his party colleague and foreign secretary Liz Truss, a gutsy and vocal schoolteacher-turned-politician. Truss's government lasted a mere 49 days-an embarrassing record of its own-and Sunak was elected the prime minister after securing the support of more than half of the Tory MPs.