What's Next For Rishi Sunak?
The next fleet of vehicles to trickle along Whitehall towards Downing Street might not be ferrying our new Prime Minister Keir Starmer but rather the removal vans of his predecessor, Rishi Sunak.
Now that the Conservative party leader has conceded defeat and attention turns to his successor, life at 10 Downing Street for the MP for Richmond and Northallerton will be resigned to the annals of memory before long, so what is next for Rishi Sunak?
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After giving his concession speech on Friday, during which he conceded defeat and announced that he will resign as prime minister and, once a replacement is secured, as the leader of the Conservative party, the turnover will be rapid, with the Starmers set to move into their new home at the earliest and most opportune moment today.
Sunak's exact moves are, as yet, unknown although he has a bounty of options at his fingertips. It is believed that Sunak and his family have already begun the act of upending their lives at Downing Street for the second time – he lived there as Chancellor under Boris Johnson until his shock resignation, before returning six months later in October 2022 after he became party leader – and are in the process of returning to their Grade-II Georgian mansion in Richmond, Yorkshire.
Should they tire of the country life though, Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, also own a five-bedroom mews house in Kensington and a pied-à-terre on Old Brompton Road, West Kensington, giving them the option to once again base themselves in the capital.
While Sunak defied the odds and retained his seat in the election, rumours have begun to circulate that he is also planning an eventual return to the financial sector in California, where the couple also own a home. Purchased in 2014, Sunak and Murty bought the penthouse on Ocean Avenue in 2014, and it is reputed to have ocean views and proximity to excellent fishing spots.
His next career move may be uncertain but, despite his title as the wealthiest prime minister in British history, former prime ministers are also entitled to claim financial support in the form of the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), which was established after Margaret Thatcher resigned in 1990. The PDCA, which is not a payment or bonus to the former prime minister as an individual, allows former prime ministers to claim up to £115,000 a year for life for the 'necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life.'
One thing's for sure though, you won't catch Sunak behind the wheel of a car anytime soon. Since the 1950s, prime ministers have effectively been banned from driving while in office - for security reasons that have never been made entirely clear. Instead, he will be entitled to a chauffeur-driven government Jaguar, as all former prime ministers are.
Whatever Sunak's next move may be, today is sure to be an emotional one for him and his family, who, as is precedent in the UK, will continue to receive security even after they leave Downing Street. 'It's pretty dramatic,' former prime minister Gordon Brown said of the day he left office. 'In Britain, when you go, you not only lose the title, but you lose the house overnight and any ability to present yourself as something.'
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