14 FT.COM/MAGAZINE APRIL 4/ 52020

ntheworldbeyond thewood-panelledstate

diningroomofNo 10 Downing Street,thepound

was crashing,companieswereclosing,streets

wereemptyingandoneofLondon’sbiggesthospi-

talshadrunoutofcriticalcarebeds.Yetinside,an

almostsurrealcalmseemedtosurroundtheman

chargedwith preventing coronavirus from turn-

ingintoaneconomiccatastrophe.

Rishi Sunak,Britain’srecentlyinstalledchan-

cellorof theexchequer,checkedhis notesbefore

calmlyrunning through the“unprecedented”

measureshe intendedtotake.Atrimfigureina

darksuit,whiteshirtandburgundytie,Sunakhad

alreadyallocatedtensofbillionsofpoundstosave

ailingbusinesses,buthisnewapproachhadnever

beentriedbefore,eveninwartime:“Forthefirst

timeinourhistory,ourgovernmentisgoingtopay

people’swages,”hetoldthenation.

Sunak’s“whateverittakes”messageonMarch

20 wonglowingreviewsfromthemediaandpolit-

ical opponents alike, as did the soothing manner

inwhichhedeliveredit.“Wewanttolookbackon

this time andremember howwethought first of

others and actedwithdecency,”hesaid.Beyond

the admiration forthe scale of the chancellor’s

responsewasamorefundamental question: who

wasthispreternaturallyassuredpolitician?

Rishi Sunak is stillafewweeksawayfromhis

40th birthday,yetfinds himself at the centreof

Britain’smostacuteeconomic–andhuman–crisis

sincethefinancialcrash,perhapssincethesecond

world war.HehasbeenanMPfor less thanfive

years and justayear ago he was the most junior

minister in the local government department.

Until his appointment as chancellor onFebru-

ary 13–following the dramaticresignationofhis

friendandthen-bossSajidJavid–hehadnotruna

governmentdepartment.

Fewpeople sawSunak coming,but at that

tense coronavirus pressconference in 10Down-

ingStreet,therewasacollectiverealisationthat

theprimeminister’spodiummightwellbewhere

hewaseventuallyheading.Thepresswascruelin

drawingcomparisonsbetweenthesleekchancel-

lorandtheever-rumpledfigureofBorisJohnson,

whostoodalongside him and has struggledto

explainthegovernment’ssluggishinitialresponse

to the virus.LadbrokesmakesSunak 11/4hot

favouritetobethenextprimeminister.

“Heissmart,he’senergeticandhelistens,which

is important,”saysFrancesO’Grady,head of the

TUC, Britain’strade union movement.O’Grady

would not normallybeafan ofaTorychancellor,

but several daysof negotiatingwith Sunakover

the coronavirus jobs packagewonherover: “It’s

alot ofresponsibilityonyoung shoulders.What

Iwouldsayis that he doeshaveemotional intel-

ligence.It’sadifferentstyle,withoutthatsenseof

superiority that some have.Heisquite frank in

sayingheneverexpectedhewouldbeinthisposi-

tion; this is notConservatism aswehaveknown

it for 40years.Things arehappeningreallyfast,

judgmentsarebeingmadefast.”

CarolynFairbairn, headof theCBI employers’

federation, alsobecame an admirerovercups of

teaattheTreasury:“Weall just felt that incredi-

blerelief. He showedthatyoucan come together

and do thingsthat arebig and havethepotential

tochangethecourseoftheriver.”

Sunak has risen so fast that he has barelyhad

time to acquireenemies,but the futurecould

betrickier.“Hewon’tbesopopular whenwe’re

putting uptaxesagaintofixthis,”admitsone

Treasury insider.Heremainsvulnerable to the

whims ofJohnson and his team and will inevita-

blybecomeamarkedman for his rivals.But for

now,hehasriddenavertiginoustrajectorytothe

toplevelofBritishpolitics.

Sunak’sriseblindsidedmanypeople.Heisnot

asociable figureintheConservativeparliamen-

taryparty:fewMPscanrecallseeinghimworking

the tearooms likeother ambitious colleagues.

Ateetotaller,heismorelikelytoendalong day

inWestminster at home with his familythan

late-night gossipingoverdinner.Atheart,Sunak

isanerd: he enjoysvideogames,spreadsheets

andStarWars,confessing to attending midnight

screeningsofthefilms.

“He’sverymuchan‘IvoryTower’politician,he

doesn’tcaremuchforparliamentandtheclubba-

blesideofpolitics,”oneToryMPofhisgeneration

remarks.“He certainlydoesn’thaveanatural

support base and has neverworkedtheparlia-

mentarypartylikesomefromourintake.”

His gildedCVoffersaclue to hispolitical

potential, however.Educatedat £40,000-a-year

WinchesterCollege, wherehewas headboy,he

went on to Oxford (wherehereceivedaFirst in

Politics,Philosophy and Economics), Stanford

andGoldman Sachs.ItisaclassicConservative

path topower,except that in Sunak’scase it has

I

RishiSunakin hisRichmond constituency.

PostedtohisFacebook page inJune 2019