Match made in Stanford
AS THE leadership contest continues, we are discovering more and more about Rishi Sunak.
We learnt quite a bit more from his interview with the Sunday Times (7).
“Sunak was born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, to Hindu parents of Punjabi descent,” the paper said.
“His father Yashvir worked as a GP, while his mother Usha was a pharmacist. He claims one of his biggest failures in life was not winning a scholarship to Winchester College, where it costs £43,335 a year to board.
“That was a big deal,” Sunak told the paper. “I just missed out and it was a big problem for my parents.
“I didn’t realise until much later on how much of a struggle it actually was, and all the things they had to do to make it work ... they saved a lot, they sacrificed a lot, everything for them was about providing this great education for their kids.”
Personally, I think he is absolutely right to argue that 16-year-olds should continue with maths and English beyond GCSE.
As for his musical tastes, he admits they have become a bit more commercial.
“He claims to be addicted to Capital Radio, the popular music station, and has recently discovered Heart 00s, which plays ‘feel-good’ tunes from 20 years ago.”
He apparently “loves dancing” but has never been much of a drinker.
“I really tried (to drink alcohol),” he confided. “My family all drink, my wife definitely drinks. It massively irritates her that I don’t.
“My parents do, my dad was upset that I wouldn’t share a glass of wine with him but thankfully my younger brother came along and that was all right. Then they realised I could drive them around if we go out for dinner so they thought, ‘actually this is fine’.”
I enjoyed reading Rishi’s comments on his wife, Akshata Murty, whom he met at Stanford.
“The former chancellor says one of the keys to their relationship is they are both different people. ‘I’m incredibly tidy, she’s very messy,’ he says. ‘I’m much more organised, she is more spontaneous ... she is not going to love me for saying this but I’ll be honest with you, she is not big on the whole tidying thing.
“She is a total nightmare, clothes everywhere ... and shoes ... oh God, shoes.”
He made Akshata sound almost like Imelda Marcos. If I were Rishi, I would rely on takeaways for supper for the next few days.