The race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister has already made history for its diverse line-up of candidates, including two British Indians. Frontrunner Rishi Sunak and Attorney General Suella Braverman have much in common as UK-born Indian-origin politicians who campaigned for Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
Nominations for the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom closed on Tuesday evening with eight Conservative MPs from across the party nominated for the race. London-born former minister Kemi Badenoch, 42, of Nigerian origin and Iraq-born Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, 55, came to the UK as a refugee when he was 11 years old and his family fled Baghdad under Saddam Hussein. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat, are both 49 and have a military background, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, 46, and former minister Jeremy Hunt, 55 completing the list of eight MPs.
Sunak Singh’s film detailing his family’s trip from India to the United Kingdom has received almost 50,000 views since its debut last week. She met his father, an NHS doctor, and the two moved to Southampton to begin a new life. Former Goldman Sachs banker David Cameron’s election as Prime Minister has been billed as a vote for the values of ‘hard work and fairness’ rather than race, class or social class. The message to Tory voters is that he represents the face of modern Britain, where values override factors such as race and background.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Ed Balls, faced tough questions about his wife’s Indian tax affairs after she gave up her legal non-domicile status to pay taxes on her Indian earnings also in the UK to avoid becoming a ‘distraction’. The media turned hostile amid reports of discord with his former boss Johnson, and Sunak faced very personal onslaughts over the tax affairs of his Indian wife.
His choice to keep his US Green Card for a few months after becoming finance minister was also scrutinized by the media, throwing doubt on his long-term aspirations to remain in British politics. However, it appears that the pair, who have two school-aged children, Anoushka and Krishna, have chosen to give Downing Street another shot – this time at No. 10, only weeks after an escape from the Chancellor’s headquarters at No. 11 put in motion circumstances that led to Johnson’s resignation.
Meanwhile, former barrister Suella Braverman is a member of the Tory party’s hard Brexit side, which seeks a clean break with Europe, including withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In her campaign video, she also discusses her Mauritian mother and Goan-origin father, both of whom immigrated to the UK from Kenya. ‘They adored the United Kingdom. It gave them a reason to believe. It gave them confidence. This country offered them a chance. I think my upbringing has definitely affected my approach to politics,’ says the South East England MP for Fareham.
The mother of two’s maternity leave famously brought about an overdue law change last year to allow her to remain a Cabinet minister while away to give birth. Penny Mordaunt and Kemi Badenoch are placed at No. 1 and 2 respectively in that tally of Tory members. Whatever the outcome of the race, the 2022 Tory leadership battle has etched its place in the history books as being among the most reflective of a diverse Britain.
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