The latest Sunday Times Rich List shows that Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, have leapfrogged the King in wealth.
Sunaks’ Now £122M Better Off
According to the 2024 Rich List, their combined wealth was up £122m last year. This year’s figures show they are worth £651m, up from £529m in 2023.
Where Do They Get Their Money From?
Most of their wealth comes from Murty’s shares in Infosys, an IT company her father co-founded. The company has grown into a tech industry powerhouse.
Sunak Tax Returns Show Personal Income
In February, Sunak published his tax return. It showed he made £2.2m, but only £151,649 of that was from his day job as Prime Minister. The rest came from investment returns and interest.
How Much Is the King Worth?
According to the Rich List, the King’s fortune is £610m, up from £600m last year. This is his personal fortune, not the wider wealth of the monarchy, which would include palaces, land, and jewels.
Why Is the Prime Minister’s Wealth Relevant?
There’s an argument that when the Prime Minister is so wealthy, it’s impossible to empathise with people on normal incomes. A cost of living crisis is irrelevant when you’re worth so much money.
Sunak’s Wealth Used by Opponents
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer commented on the rise in mortgage rates. He said they “might not sound much to the prime minister, but most people don’t have that sort of money”.
Lack of Clarity With Sunak’s Finances
There’s also a trust element when it comes to Rishi Sunak and his financial affairs. Sunak’s wife, Akshata, was found to have non-dom status, which prevents her from paying UK tax on her global earnings.
Non-Dom Status in More Detail
Non-dom status meant she declared her main residence outside the UK. This meant she only had to pay tax on earnings made in the UK, not on the Infosys dividends that made up the overwhelming bulk of her money.
Murty Saved Nearly £21M in Tax.
Figures show that Murty avoided paying £20.6m in tax to the UK because of her non-dom status. Infosys is based in India, meaning her earnings were came from overseas.
Non-Dom Not Illegal, but Questionable PR
Whilst she hadn’t broken the law, it was a huge PR own goal, not paying UK tax when your husband is the Chancellor of the Exchequer (as he was then).
Sunak’s Wealth Not Helped His Image
Whilst it doesn’t mean he’s not capable of good leadership, Sunak’s wealth hasn’t helped his public image. Social media commentary regularly references his money and how he can’t empathise with the common family.
Sunak’s Office on the Defensive
An official spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “When he’s been asked this question before he’s responded and asked that people judge him by his actions, including to support livelihoods during the pandemic though the furlough scheme as an example.”
Tax Returns a Relatively New Thing
Before David Cameron publishing his tax return in 2016, UK politicians tended not to make such private matters public. It was mostly an American thing designed to endear politicians to the public.
Johnson and Truss Declined
Since David Cameron in 2016, only Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have not published their tax returns for public viewing.
Criticism of ‘Elites’ Ruling
There was much criticism about ‘the elites’ holding power, and much of that came from the pro-Brexit movement. Since then, we’ve had a Prime Minister with family links to the aristocracy (Johnson) and the wealthiest Prime Minister in history.
Sunak Struggles With the ‘Rich’ Label
In an interview with the BBC, Sunak was shown the words people associate with him. They included ‘rich’, ‘upper class’, ‘greed’ ‘elite’ and the like. Laura Kussenberg told him, “You can see there – rightly or wrongly – what many people associate you with is your personal wealth.”
Wealth Is Another Stick to Beat Sunak With
His fortune isn’t relevant to his job. Still, in politics, appearances matter a lot, and being so wealthy at a time when families are struggling doesn’t help endear you to the public.
Expect Sunak’s Wealth to Feature More
As the election gets closer, campaign teams will go into overdrive, attacking any possible element of weakness. With this in mind, expect Sunak’s overtaking of the King in the Rich List to be a frequent engagement point.
The post PM Sunak and Wife Outrank Royalty on Sunday Times Rich List first appeared on Swift Feed.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Frederic Legrand – COMEO.