Rishi Sunak has another job. Keir Starmer’s Conservative predecessor has just been hired as a business columnist by the Sunday Times. This is the latest in a long line of extra-parliamentary appointments taken up by the MP for Richmond and Northallerton as well as his role as an advisor to Goldman Sachs and Microsoft.
Sunak, unlike his former colleagues Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, has no writing experience (although he has been described as a “brilliant mind” by the paper’s editor, Ben Taylor). In his weekly column, the former PM will write on a “variety of subjects including business, technology, politics and the economy” although, as per the ruling of the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sunak is banned from drawing on any privileged information from his time in No 10 and before that No 11. His fee will be paid to The Richmond Project, an education charity founded by Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty which seeks to improve young people’s numeracy.
“As a long-time reader of the Sunday Times business pages, I’m honoured to be joining a great team as columnist,” Sunak said.
But as eagle-eyed readers might remember, at last year’s general election (in which Sunak lost his job), the Sunday Times endorsed the Labour Party for the first time since 2001. Perhaps the offer of a column was a chance to make amends? Even so, there could be some awkward conversations between ST staffers and the paper’s new star hire. The Pygge looks forward to seeing what the former PM comes up with.
[Further reading: Exclusive: Your Party will only have one leader under draft guidance]
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