The UK media on Tuesday welcomed Indian-origin British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with both bouquets and brickbats, with some news outlets acknowledging his leadership as the "new dawn" for the country, while others questioning the validity of his victory.
Sunak, 42, was elected Conservative Party leader on Monday, marking a very special Diwali for the former Chancellor of Exchequer who entered 10 Downing Street as the youngest British Prime Minister in 210 years.
He was leading the front page of every major newspaper in the UK, which in the past had colonised most of the world.
“Unite or die - Sunak’s warning to Tory MPs,” read The Guardian banner headline under a picture of the 42-year-old Conservative Party leader receiving a hero’s welcome at the party's head office in London.
Noting that Sunak "will become the third Conservative prime minister in under two months and the fifth in six years”, the report said, “He will also make history as the first Hindu to lead the country.”
Echoing similar sentiment, The Mail headline read, “A new dawn for Britain” with the sub-head: "Rishi Sunak becomes our youngest modern PM - and first with an Asian heritage”.
Striking a similar ebullient note, The Sun said, “The force is with you, Rishi” with the main image showing him holding a lightsaber.
However, not all media outlets were happy with Sunak being the UK's new Prime Minister. In a scathing attack on Sunak, The Mirror in its banner headline asked “Our new (unelected) PM” that “Who voted for you?”
Describing him as “twice as rich as the King", its main story said he will now "preside over brutal public spending cuts”.
With the headline “Death of democracy”, Scotland’s Daily Record was even more critical of Sunak.
Sunak has a net worth of over 700 million pounds. Apart from owning a mansion in Yorkshire, Sunak and his wife Akshata own a property in Kensington in central London.
According to this year’s ‘Sunday Times Rich List’, the couple's combined wealth is estimated at GBP 730 million - with sections of the media pointing out that it makes them richer than King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla.
Meanwhile, The Financial Times focussed on the economic challenges that lie ahead for Sunak, a former investment banker-turned politician.
The “markets look forward to ‘dullness dividend’ in the wake of Truss turbulence”, it said, quoting Tory MPs that they hope Sunak “will reassure markets and help hold down borrowing costs”.
The Times highlighted Sunak’s warning to Tories that “Failure to heal rifts would ‘finish’ [the] party”.
The Telegraph said, “PM aims to bring warring factions together for ‘one shot’ at ending economic crisis.”
Sunak lost the race for prime ministership to fellow Conservative leader Liz Truss on September 5. Truss stepped down last Thursday after 45 days in office following a rebellion in her Cabinet over her economic policies.
Sunak, whose parents -- retired doctor Yashvir and pharmacist Usha Sunak -- are of Indian descent and had migrated from Kenya to the UK in the 1960s, is married to Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy's daughter Akshata Murthy. They have two daughters. Sunak was born in Southampton.
His grandparents originated from British India but their birthplace Gujranwala lies in modern day Pakistan's Punjab province.
As the third premier in the space of just seven weeks after Boris Johnson’s partygate exit and Truss’ mini-budget fiasco, the road ahead is anything but smooth for the new leader, who faces the uphill task of rescuing an economy in turmoil and uniting a deeply divided Conservative Party.
