He’s Macavity the Mystery Cat – but can Sunak land on his feet again?

Arare chink in Rishi Sunak’s seemingly impregnable armour appeared last week when the Treasury was forced to delete a tweet celebrating the reopening of pubs on July 4. With more than 44,000 confirmed dead from coronavirus, the invitation to “grab a drink and raise a glass” was criticised for its tone-deafness.

Yet the unfortunate episode did nothing to dent the Chancellor’s abiding popularity as he continues to be credited with riding to the public’s rescue in the wake of Covid-19.

As he prepares to make his “jobs, jobs, jobs” pledge in his summer statement tomorrow, the 40-year-old rookie’s esteem is soaring, with a weekend poll putting his approval rating ahead of everyone in the Government – including Boris Johnson.

The Deltapoll survey put the former Fulbright scholar on plus 41, compared with plus eight for Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, and just plus two for the Prime Minister.

It’s quite an accomplishment for the MP for Richmond, who was only elected to Parliament five years ago after a successful career managing hedge funds.

The son of a GP father and pharmacist mother, whose Punjabborn Hindu family emigrated from East Africa to the UK in the Sixties, Mr

Sunak studied politics, philosophy and economics (PPE) at Oxford.

But with another poll suggesting that half of all businesses participating in the furlough scheme expect to make redundancies in October, some fear the honeymoon could soon be over for the Government’s resident golden boy.

The Opinium survey for the Bright Blue think-tank found that 44 per cent of businesses in the job retention scheme envisaged making cuts to their workforce, with medium sized businesses with fewer than 249 employees most at risk of job cuts. Forty per cent of companies say their business model will have to change permanently after the pandemic ends, while 34 per expect that demand is unlikely to return to normal levels even after the pandemic.

With Mr Sunak already being touted as a future prime minister, could the economic fallout from the crisis take the shine off his status as a rising star? The answer to that, as far as Conservatives are concerned, appears to lie in his willingness to follow his own free-market instincts.

According to one senior Tory, backbenchers have admired the way the former Winchester College head boy has played this whole situation politically.

“He’s not done many interviews and press conferences so he’s managed to dodge the fallout from the shells landing on Downing Street,” said the MP.

“He’s like Macavity the Mystery Cat – he comes forward when there’s positive things to say, but not negative. He’s socially distanced himself from Cummings and Co by getting on with the job. He’s cleverly realised that if he just focuses on his brief and doesn’t go wider, he’s safe.”

Described as being “much more hawkish” and “pro-business” than some of the more cautious voices inside No10, the MP added: “He’s been at odds with Downing Street without anyone really noticing. There haven’t been any briefings. He gets away with it because they need him.

“Rishi has always ridden to the rescue. But is he going to take the big decisions? In the short term they are going to have to cut taxes and deregulate. That’s his instinctive position.

“He knows more about finances than Boris. He knows who he is and what he’s doing.”

Backbenchers concerned that Mr Johnson might not go the distance already appear to have set their sights on the ambitious father of two, who just a year ago was leading a government consultation into accessible toilets.

Which is precisely why some fear he may end up having his wings clipped – despite the crisis leaving Downing Street with less control over the Treasury than it planned when Sajid Javid was forced out in a power grab in February.

“It is only a matter of time before he is going to be asked to play bad cop to Johnson’s good cop,” said one Tory source. “He’s handled the situation well, but he’s been playing the role of Father Christmas. At some point the Government is going to have to limit spending and borrowing – he might need to turn into Scrooge.

“The trouble is, no one’s clear if it’s going to be a quick recovery or not.

“It’s not just a question of giving money, but how much money is actually going in. If tax revenues are coming down – what’s Rishi’s solution going to be to that?”

We may find out the answer to that question – and more – tomorrow.