Rishi Sunak has plunged to the very bottom of the ConservativeHome website’s monthly popularity ratings, scoring even lower than Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under fire over the “partygate” row.
The rumbling row over the chancellor’s wife's non-dom tax status coupled with his US Green Card controversy have not done Sunak any favours.
The net rating of the British politician, who has also been a Richmond MP since 2015, has plunged from 7.9 to minus 5.2 in the survey, which is typically closely-watched by Tory MPs and ministers.
Accordingly, Rishi Sunak is scoring even lower than the UK PM, who is third from bottom, registering at 6.6 amid fallout over his allegedly lockdown-breaching Downing Street parties.
As for other high-rankers, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in second place, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi in third, and Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan fourth.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, who recently made headlines after the unveiling of a plan to tackle the cross-Channel migrant crisis by deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda for processing, has also been boosted to 16th ranking.
Topping the chart for three consecutive months has been Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, apparently on plaudits earned for his response to the Ukraine crisis.
Sunak’s ‘Fall From Grace’
Rishi Sunak, who several months ago was looked upon as a favourite to succeed Boris Johnson if the PM was toppled over “partygate”, has since seen his chances decimated, senior Conservatives were cited as saying earlier by The Observer.
Initially under fire from the opposition over the onslaught of the cost of living crisis in the UK, Sunak found himself mired in controversy over his finances.
It emerged that Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty, who hails from a wealthy Indian family that owns the multinational information technology company Infosys, worth approximately £690m, has non-domiciled status.
While there was never any suggestion that she had broken any rules, the fact that the mother of Sunak’s two children was able to avoid paying tax on foreign income gave rise to questions.
Urgent answers were also demanded from Rishi Sunak after it was reported that he was listed as a beneficiary of trusts in the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands set up to manage his wife’s business affairs. Furthermore, Sunak was revealed as having held a US green card 18 months into his role as chancellor.
In the aftermath of the furore, Akshata Murty released a statement saying that while keeping the non-dom status she would now pay UK tax on her worldwide income.
As for Rishi Sunak, a spokesperson for the chancellor insisted that "all laws and rules have been followed and full taxes have been paid where required in the duration he held his green card”.
The chancellor also got his share of blowback from “partygate”, slapped with a police fine along with Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie, for attending a birthday gathering for the PM in No 10 in June 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown as part of a Scotland Yard probe.
Both politicians apologised, but have rejected calls to resign.
“I know people sacrificed a great deal during Covid, and they will find this situation upsetting. I deeply regret the frustration and anger caused and I am sorry”, stated Sunak.