A challenging ascent.....Rishi Sunak, first Indian origin British Prime Minister : Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

 A challenging ascent

(Rishi Sunak, first Indian Origin British Prime Minister)

Vanam Jwala Narasimha Rao

Millennium Post (26-10-2022)

(Comeback of Rishi Sunak at Downing Street puts him in the rich league of high- and low-profile prime ministers; how he fares will be closely watched-Editor)

Rishi Sunak has been chosen to replace Liz Truss as British Prime Minister. Following resignation of Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak after winning the Conservative leadership race would become the first Indian-origin British Prime Minister. He will also be the first British Prime Minister of South Asian heritage, the first Hindu to hold the post and the youngest for 200 years. His only rival, Penny Mordaunt, conceded and withdrew after failing to get the support of one hundred Conservative Lawmakers required to stay in the race.

When this Richmond MP Rishi Sunak lost to outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss in a seriously fought election just a month and half ago, no one might have thought even remotely, that he will be back at Downing Street so soon. Rishi Sunak now on becoming PM faces the huge task of stabilizing the party and country at a time of economic and political turbulence.

Rishi Sunak previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022 and Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2020. He was also a member of the Privy Council. Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Punjabi Indian descent who migrated to Britain. Sunak was elected to the House of Commons for Richmond in North Yorkshire at the 2015 general election. Sunak who is a Hindu, took his oath as an MP at the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita. He married Akshata Murty, the daughter of NR Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys.

The long history of British Prime Ministers is very interesting. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the mother of Parliamentary Democracies, is the Principal Minister of the Crown of His or Her Majesty's Government, and the head of the British Cabinet. There is no specific date for when the office of Prime Minister first appeared, as the role was not created but rather evolved over a period of time through a merger of duties. How Great it was!!!

The term was regularly, if not informally, used of Robert Walpole by the 1730s. It was used in the House of Commons as early as 1805 and it was in Parliamentary use by the 1880s. In 1905, the post of Prime Minister was officially given recognition in the order of precedence. Modern historians generally consider Robert Walpole, who led the Government of Great Britain for over twenty years from 1721, as the first Prime Minister. Walpole was also the longest-serving British Prime Minister by this definition.

However, Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first and Margaret Thatcher the longest-serving Prime Minister officially referred to as such in the order of precedence. The first to use the title in an official act was Benjamin Disraeli, who signed the Treaty of Berlin as "Prime Minister of Her Britannic Majesty" in 1878.

In fact, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was William Pitt the Younger. The first Prime Minister of the current United Kingdom (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), was Bonar Law, although the country was not renamed officially until 1927, when Stanley Baldwin was the serving prime minister.

Due to the gradual evolution of the post of Prime Minister, the title is applied to early Prime Ministers only retrospectively. This has sometimes given rise to academic dispute. Lord Bath and Lord Waldegrave are sometimes listed as Prime Ministers. Bath was invited to form a ministry by George II when Henry Pelham resigned in 1746, as was Waldegrave in 1757 after the dismissal of William Pitt the Elder, who dominated the affairs of government during the Seven Years' War. Neither was able to command sufficient parliamentary support to form a government. Bath stepped down after two days and Waldegrave after four days. Modern academic consensus does not consider either of them to have held office as Prime Minister.

Before the Union of England and Scotland in 1707, the Treasury of England was led by the Lord High Treasurer. By the late Stuart period, the Treasury was often run not by a single individual but by a commission of Lords of the Treasury, led by the First Lord of the Treasury.

Following the succession of George, I in 1714, the arrangement of a commission of Lords of the Treasury became permanent. After the death of Stanhope in February 1721 and resignation of Sunderland two months later, Townshend and Robert Walpole were then invited to form the next government. From that point, the holder of the office of First Lord also usually (albeit unofficially) held the status of Prime Minister. It was not until the Edwardian era that the title Prime Minister was constitutionally recognized. The prime minister still holds the office of First Lord by constitutional convention with few exceptions.

William Pitt, Arthur Wellesley, Charles Grey, William Lamb, Robert Peel, Lord John Russell, Henry John Temple, Benjamin Disraeli,             William Ewart Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Ramsay MacDonald, Stanley Baldwin, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Harold Macmillan, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson etc. among others are some of the popular Prime Ministers of UK.

Just to mention one or two Prime Ministers who had high reputation in the world, Winston Churchill perhaps tops the list. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a Member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. He was known as war Prime Minister.

Clement Attlee served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labor Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Minister during the wartime coalition government under Winston Churchill, and served twice as Leader of the Opposition from 1935 to 1940 and from 1951 to 1955. He is often ranked as one of the greatest British prime ministers. Attlee's reputation among scholars has grown, due to his creation of the modern welfare state. It was during his tenure India got Independence. 

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British Prime Minister and the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century. As Prime Minister, she implemented economic policies that became known as Thatcherism. She was dubbed as the ‘Iron Lady’, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. On becoming Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election, Thatcher introduced a series of economic policies intended to reverse high inflation and an oncoming recession. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasized deregulation the privatization of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions.

And there are many more who excelled as Prime Ministers, some though were in office for a short period. Now that Rishi Sunak will be the Prime Minister in that order of high profile as well as low profile persons, the time will tell how his term runs. An Indian heading Britain, that ruled India for 200 years, that too when India is celebrating its Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Independence, is really GREAT. Let us wish Rishi Sunak all the BEST.

(Source of information: Internet and Google Search.

Presentation of article is by writer)