“I am very much looking forward to spending time with my kids… we’re going to California, which is where I met my wife so it’s very special to us. The kids are very excited because I am taking them to Disneyland,” revealed UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, just before he set off on his first proper family holiday in years.
Sunak met his Indian wife, Akshata Murty, while they were both studying at Stanford University, making the summer holiday in the US extra special. The self-confessed ‘Star Wars’ fan admitted his main attraction at Disneyland would be the section devoted to the cult sci-fi film, where daughters Krishna, 11, and Anoushka, 9, might have to spend more time than they would like.
During his pre-holiday radio rounds, he was asked by LBC’s Nick Ferrari how he manages to relax given his packed schedule at 10 Downing Street, the British Indian leader said it was by spending time with his daughters.
“So, this (holiday) would be really special for us because we rarely get family time. We had a night out the other evening to go and see ‘Barbie’, which was fun,” he shared, reviewing it as “very pink” and “good escapism” when asked about his verdict on the recent Hollywood release.
Earlier, Downing Street had confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will be in charge of day-to-day government business over the course of the week-long holiday. Sunak, 43, had been on a family holiday in Spain for only a few hours when he had to rush back to the UK following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.
"The PM will be taking some time off with his family – the first time he will do this since he became Chief Secretary to the Treasury almost four years ago. He'll be off from Thursday [August 3] for just over a week," Sunak’s spokesperson told reporters earlier this week.
Sunak was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury in July 2019 before being promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer by then prime minister Boris Johnson in February 2020. Soon after, he found himself leading the UK’s response to the economic fallout of the Covid pandemic.
In July 2022, he resigned as Chancellor from Johnson’s Cabinet which led to a protracted Conservative Party leadership election. His predecessor Liz Truss’ short-lived premiership meant he was back to a heavy workload as Britain’s first Prime Minister of Indian heritage on Diwali day in October last year.
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Sunak’s first visit to India as PM is expected in September for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
“There’s the G20 in New Delhi, and I absolutely can’t wait to be there, not just for the mithai but also the work that we will get done too,” he said during the India Global Forum’s UK-India Week reception at Downing Street.
