Rishi Sunak, Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, recently revealed that he was once a victim of ‘racism’ and his parents were desperate for him to “fit in” and speak without an accent.
Speaking to ITV News, Sunak shared how his parents were so determined he should fit in and speak without an accent that he was sent for extra drama lessons.
“You are conscious of being different. It’s hard not to be, right, and obviously, I experienced racism as a kid,” Sunak also recalled people used to direct slurs at him and his younger siblings “that hurt more than anything else.”
The UK prime minister also said his mother in particular was extremely conscious of the way he spoke.
“One of the things my mum was obsessed with was that we didn’t speak with accents and we would speak properly. So she was keen for us to try to do some extra drama,” he added.
About his political rise, Sunak admitted that he never dreamed there might one day be someone like him, who belongs to an ethnic minority prime minister adding that they never had such role models to look up to.
In 2022, Rishi Sunak scripted history when he was appointed as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister by King Charles III as after being elected unopposed as the new leader of the governing Conservative Party on Diwali.
The 43-year-old former Chancellor of the Exchequer, a devout Hindu, is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years. He is also the first Hindu Prime Minister of Indian heritage in the UK.
(With PTI inputs)
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