"He’s richer than the King”
Kay Burley laid into the Paymaster General John Glen MP this morning during a grilling on the Prime Minister’s wealth and its impact on his relatability.
It comes after the Sunday Times Rich List revealed Rishi Sunak and his wife had climbed up the rungs of the UK’s wealthiest people, having seen their net worth rise from £529m in 2023, to £651m.
The Sky News presenter put it to the Tory Paymaster General that Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty earned a whopping extra third of a million pounds a day last year and questioned how the Prime Minister could possibly relate “to a single mum in Wigan, who’s struggling to keep a roof over her head?”
Much like the response Sunak uses when probed about his vast wealth and how it may affect his ability to connect with the electorate, the Paymaster General responded that the PM should be judged on his record and “what decisions he’s made as a government minister”.
“What he needs to be judged on as prime minister is how he delivers for the people of this country,” said Glen.
The MP argued that following the Covid pandemic Sunak “intervened to provide support for the poorest people in this country, and that’s what he’s done at every fiscal event in government.”
To which Burley replied, “he’s richer than the King”.
Glen said that was a topic “for others to comment on” and that it was a “private matter”, as the Tory MP explained how Sunak had a successful career before entering Parliament and that much of his wealth “isn’t from him personally”.
He went on to say that Sunak’s focus in Parliament has been on “delivering for the most vulnerable in difficult times” to which Burley put the MP on the spot when she hit back, “if that were the case, why is he so unpopular with the electorate?”.
Recent statistics show Rishi Sunak is 16% behind Keir Starmer on who the public think would make the best Prime Minister, with his favorability ratings worsening in 2023.
“What’s important is that.. the Prime Minister does the right thing in the long-term interests of this country,” Glen replied.
To which Burley cut in, “the unelected Prime Minister”.
Social media users took it as an opportunity to remind the MP of the Tory government’s record, which included Partygate, Whatsapp deletions, rising absolute poverty and huge NHS waiting lists.
(Image credit: Sky News / Screenshot YouTube)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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