The office of UK prime minister has become a game of musical chairs. That explains Rishi Sunak becoming the fifth person in six years to hold it.
He will be Britain’s third leader in seven weeks and the first prime minister of color in its history.
A former chancellor of the Exchequer who is the son of Indian immigrants, Mr. Sunak, 42, won the contest to replace the ousted Liz Truss, who resigned under pressure last Thursday after her economic agenda caused turmoil.
(The New York Times, October 24, 2022)
Sunak, not the man for the moment
Many are hailing Sunak for becoming the first prime minister of color in British history. But the way Sunak campaigned for this office, I suspect that historical fact fills him more with shame than pride.
For example, consider how Barack Obama campaigned in 2008 to become the first president of color in US history. He never gave anyone the impression that he preferred to identify with Whites more than Blacks. But Sunak gave that impression in spades.
Sunak’s reverse Robin Hood policies
Sunak based his campaign on pretending he was more worthy of being hailed as the heir to Margaret Thatcher than Liz Truss. That should have been a disqualifying red flag. Indeed, I duly ridiculed him in “Rishi Sunak Playing Reverse Robin Hood to Become British Prime Minister? August 6, 2022.
But Sunak openly bragged that, as chancellor, he diverted taxpayer dollars from non-whites in poor urban areas to whites in rich suburban areas. Britons also saw this non-aristocrat on tape bragging that he had no working-class (i.e., non-White) friends.
His wife, a cross between Lady Macbeth and Marie Antoinette
Sunak turned himself into a pretzel trying to explain why his wife was a happy non-dom billionaire tax dodger until he decided to run for prime minister. He came across like a Russian oligarch trying to explain the source of his ill-gotten gains. But that red flag showed that the poor will fare no better under his premiership.
Frankly, Sunak seems like just a UK version of an Uncle Tom. A self-hating non-white so desperate to please whites, he champions more racist causes than any self-respecting white ever would.
Naturally, Asians globally are expressing racial pride in his historic premiership. And there might be a silver lining in that. Because their overweening pride might prove overwhelming. And that might cause the opportunistic Sunak to see political advantage in belatedly embracing his color for his forthcoming reelection bid.
But pity the fool who thinks his premiership means Indians will have an easier time immigrating to England. After all, he and other Tories of Asian descent, like Suella Braverman and Priti Patel, are well-known anti-immigration hawks. They’ve championed some of the most restrictive immigration policies in UK history.