Is Rishi Sunak California-bound after crushing UK election defeat?

Is Rishi Sunak dreaming of California?

Defeated in a landslide in the UK polls, the former prime minister on Tuesday took up his seat on the opposition benches in Parliament.

But the question is for how long.

There are rumours that the man who was the richest UK prime minister ever – wealthier even than King Charles III – could decamp for the sunny climes of California and his $7 million penthouse.

But what do we know?

Let’s take a closer look:

As per Daily Mail, Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty own a multimillion-dollar luxury penthouse in Santa Monica.

The lavish penthouse, which overlooks Santa Monica’s double-jointed pier and coastline, is one of California’s most tony neighbourhoods.

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Sunak and Akshata met while studying at Stanford University.

He has called the US state ‘very special.’

His fondness for the state is well known – even by other world leaders.

As per Politico, Biden, meeting Sunak last year, said, “I want to welcome you back to California — he’s a Stanford man, and he still has a home here in California. That’s why I’m being very nice to you, maybe you can invite me to your home in California.”

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Santa Monica is also where Sunak ran a hedge fund before he took the plunge into politics.

In fact, Sunak touted his record in California while campaigning for the prime minister’s job in 2022.

“I actually think it’s one of the reasons that I would be good at this job,” Sunak said. “Because what I will bring to this job is a way of thinking that is different.”

“When we think about growth and in a modern economy, how do you drive growth — you drive it through innovation. Because of my experience, I know how to build that type of economy.”

But the US state became a subject of contention during the recent polls when his opponents vowed to ‘send Sunak to California.’

This isn’t the first time such a row broke out either.

As per Politico, in 2022, even as he was serving as an MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak was discovered to have held a US green card till 2021.

The green card states that the holder has an obligation to ‘make the US your permanent home.’

Sunak only returned his green card ahead of an official visit to the United States – his first as a minister in the UK government.

Sunak wouldn’t be the first UK politico to make California his home.

Nick Clegg, who previously led the Liberal Democrats, is now META’s president for global affairs.

‘Who wouldn’t move back?’

Some residents of Santa Monica think the move is a no-brainer.

“I mean, who wouldn’t move back to California?” Fraser Bradbrook, a young man from the UK told Politico. “If I were him, I’d do the same thing.”

Tatiana Bicat, originally from Oxford, who has been in the state for two decades, added, “I could see them being very happy here with the resources they have.”

“I’m sure [Sunak] would be attracted to all the things we were when we moved here.”

Others disagree.

English expat James stokes added, “If he ended up moving back here, I think he’d be a bit of a target. There’s a big expat community, and I don’t think he’d be welcomed particularly warmly here.”

Regardless, Sunak has denied that he is making such a move – at least anytime soon.

Sunak retained his seat in Richmond and Northallerton by defeating Labour’s Tom Wilson.

As per Daily Mail, Sunak in June vowed to serve as an MP for all five years of the new Parliament.

He also rebuffed a claim during an interview on ITV that he would ‘disappear in a few weeks’.

“It’s simply not true, I mean, it’s just simply not true,” Sunak said.

Asked if he would remain in the UK, he replied, “Of course, of course I am. Of course, and this is my home.”

“I mean, my football team just got promoted back in the Premiership and I hope to be watching them for years to come in the Premier League.”

As per The Guardian, Sunak has vowed to remain in the UK to ‘facilitate a smooth leadership transition’ for the Conservative Party.

Sunak on Tuesday congratulated Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Sunak, fresh off the Conservatives’ crushing election defeat, agreed that “in our politics, we can argue vigorously, as the prime minister and I did over the past six weeks, but still respect each other.”

“To be sent to this place by our constituencies is the greatest honour and responsibility”, Sunak said. He added that he was looking forward to continuing to represent Richmond and Northallerton. He said they would take on opposition duty “respectfully, professionally and humbly.”

Starmer, meanwhile, said all lawmakers had a responsibility “to put an end to a politics that has too often seemed self-serving and self-obsessed, and to replace that politics of performance with the politics of service.”

With inputs from agencies