Rishi Sunak under UK media scrutiny for ‘privileged’ upbringing

Rishi Sunak's personal wealth as a perceived barrier in his path to connecting with the wider British electorate suffering from post-pandemic economic turmoil is in focus among sections of the UK media on Friday. The 42-year-old former Chancellor, who is now facing off Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the last stretch of the campaign to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister, has faced down similar jibes related to a so-called “privileged” upbringing and wife Akshata Murty's family wealth associated with her Infosys shares.

On Thursday, Channel 4 News' aired an investigation entitled Rishi Sunak: Inside the Tory Leadership candidate's fortune', which questioned the Sunak camp's references to his “humble” and “modest” background and has been picked up by other publications on Friday.

“I think financially it was quite a huge commitment for us because the fees at Winchester [College] are double what you would pay if you went to the local school in Southampton. So, it was quite a large financial commitment,” the report quoted Sunak's father, Yashvir, from a BBC interview from 2000.


However, while the channel highlights the Sunak's camp's claims of him being a scholarship student to the prestigious private school, the former finance minister himself has declared that his time at Winchester was the outcome of his family's hard work and sacrifice. “I had the privilege of going to an incredible school. But I wasn't a scholarship child. Every penny was paid for by my parents' sacrifice. I don't know if I can ever thank them enough. So, I learnt early on that family matters,” he said in a speech at the UK-India Awards ceremony on July 1, during which he also shared his experiences of working at his mother Usha's family pharmacy in his birthplace of Southampton.