Rishi Sunak Says Extremely Proud Of What In-Laws Murthy Have Achieved

Rishi Sunak has said that he is proud of what his Indian in-laws--Infosys Ltd.’s co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and philanthropist Sudha Murty--have achieved, even as he emerged frontrunner to become UK’s next prime minister.

The 42-year-old former chancellor, in a heated television debate Sunday, fought back media banter around wife Akshata Murthy’s family wealth. Her income tax affairs made headlines earlier this year, when she voluntarily relinquished her legal non-domicile status to pay taxes on income from Infosys shares. Sunak was also confronted about his own US Green Card status, which he reportedly gave up after a few months in the chancellor’s job at No.11, Downing Street.

“So, I've always been a completely normal UK taxpayer. My wife is from another country so she's treated differently, but she explained that in the spring and she resolved that issue,” Sunak said during a debate on ITV on Sunday night. “There is a commentary about my wife's family's wealth. So, let me just address that head on because I think it’s worth doing because I'm actually incredibly proud of what my parents-in-law have built.”

“My father-in-law came from absolutely nothing, just had a dream and a couple of hundred pounds that my mother-in-law's savings provided him, and with that he went on to build one of the world's largest, most respected, most successful companies that by the way employs thousands of people here in the United Kingdom.”

“It's an incredibly conservative story, actually it's a story that I'm really proud of, and as prime minister, I want to ensure that we can create more stories like theirs here at home,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sunak extended his lead in the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British prime minister, as he added 14 more votes to his tally in the latest round of voting by Tory members of Parliament.

Sunak has consistently topped the shortlist since voting began last week. On Monday, he bagged 115 votes in the third round. Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt is holding on to second place with 82 votes followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss with 71 votes. Ex-Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch is at 58 votes. Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat was knocked out of the contest.

The magic number is seen as 120. A candidate receiving the backing of at least 120 of his or her Conservative Party colleagues is guaranteed a spot in the final list of two candidates to compete for the Tory membership votes.

The fourth round of voting will take place on Tuesday, at the end of which the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated to edge towards a final shortlist of just two by Thursday.

(With inputs from PTI)