Why Rishi Sunak comes up short in silly season

It’s funny how no matter what he does, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak always comes up short for some ‘opinion makers’ in his homeland. And mainstream British media is also curiously eager to participate in those regular takedowns. The latest one is about how Sunak’s suits are too tight and too short—which some have weirdly interpreted as a device to make him seem taller. That appears to be a tall story given that his (lack of) height is not exactly a state secret. That gives rise to the probability that it is just another salvo fired at his perceived ‘poshness’ though Sunak is by no means to the manner born; even his manor at Kirby Sigston is his own acquisition, not inherited. But rather than hail him as an example of British inclusiveness that allowed a skinny, short, browhis manor at Kirby Sigston is his own acquisition, not inherited. But rather than hail him as an example of British inclusiveness that allowed a skinny, short, brown son of Indian immigrants from East Africa to succeed, Sunak is derided for allegedly being too rich, too out of touch, too elitist, and basically just too Indian. Although he is the richest member of Parliament (his isn’t inherited, his wife Akshata’s millions are) he’s not the shortest of the current line-up of British politicians. But the way his height is always brought up implies it somehow has a bearing on his actions as prime minister. Yet London’s mayor Sadiq Khan at 5ft 5 inches is an inch shorter than Sunak but that does not figure in the debates over his latest pollution tax. By the way, like Sunak, Winston Churchill was 5’6” too. Conversely, despite his shambolic appearance and less than savoury personal life, Boris(h) Johnson, though of middling height, is not gaslit either. When he was prime minister, there were indulgent articles even from ideological opponents about his “chaos dressing” and how it tied in with his image of being too hard at work to care about how he looked. There was a sort of reluctant admiration for a ‘toff’ who had all the vices of his (upper) class but managed to get away with it. Sunak, on the other hand, is like that earnest Indian boy in a private school (which he was) who works hard and even becomes head boy (which he did) but is somehow never cool enough because of his background. Even as prime minister, if he looks neat and nice, it’s always deemed too neat and nice. If he is friendly and pleasant, he is too friendly and pleasant. If he is clever and hardworking, he is too clever and hardworking. And his trousers and jackets are never quite right either. In short, the tenor of criticism is different for Sunak; he does not get the same indulgence as Johnson. Thus, the commentary about Sunak’s trousers being too short is par for the course. It is predictably being touted as evidence of his being out of touch with trends rather than being just his preferred style of dressing. That he may simply want to wear trousers that are shorter than whatever is on-trend—ditto for his jacket and shirt sleeves—does not seem to occur to anyone. The tone of even international agency reportage from London, when he became prime minister, is indicative. “With his ascent to prime minister, Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy will become the richest ever occupants of Number 10 Downing Street just as the country struggles with an economic crisis and the government mulls painful spending cuts,” said Reuters that day. And thus began the special focus on every “rich aspect” of the Sunaks’ lives from tea mugs to shoes. Does anyone seriously expect Sunak—or any prime minister—to opt for the latest trends from the catwalk? At last count, no top politician or business head has been consciously uber-fashionable. For 2023, incidentally, going shirtless is all the rage it seems. Fendi debuted spezzatos (broken suits) without shirts, YSL had wide lapels to show off bare abs, and even the rising Nigerian-Indian-British menswear star Priya Ahluwalia has put her waistcoats on naked chests. Hopefully, no one expects him to go that far, but the fact remains that despite his well-documented wardrobe of casualwear with all the right labels, Sunak’s workaday suits always fall short on approval. Amid all the crises afflicting the UK, imagine if it emerged that he spent time scanning fashion articles to decide if he should wear longer trousers. The criticism would be excoriating. However, his disinclination to be trendy has not led to an avalanche of appreciation. Former US president Barack Obama was praised for never veering from the same type of suit (grey or blue, notch lapel, two-button), shirts (white or pale blue) and tie combination while in the White House. His wife Michelle revealed later that he wore the same former dinner jacket and shoes for that whole time too. His lack of variety was approvingly linked to the strategy of all successful busy people to reduce the number of relatively unimportant decisions to take in a day. Maybe Sunak’s mistake was to opt for a £3,500 suit by Henry Herbert during his first bid to become Conservative Party leader and therefore prime minister in 2022. Henry Herbert is a johnny-come-lately on the British bespoke scene, cheekily launching only 15 years ago with a space on the revered Savile Row in London, no less, and delivering custom-tailored suits, shirts and casualwear on Vespa scooters. Sunak was probably being unacceptably honest about his financial situation. Besides, Sunak can never score the same kind of brownie points that Johnson earned for wearing a “rent-a-suit” (£34 a day) at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 from another new label, Oliver Brown that specialises in hiring out clothes in the name of “sustainable” fashion. If Sunak tries to opt for more affordable suits and casualwear, he would certainly be called a hypocrite, and there would be more reiteration of his millions and his wife’s non-domicile status tax benefits. It also helps that it’s currently ‘silly season’ in London—Parliament adjourned on 20 July and will reconvene on 4 September, which means people are deprived of their chief source of news and entertainment. It’s also summer holidays for other newsmakers too, so it’s a great time for stories, conjecture and gossip that would otherwise get short shrift. When it comes to picking on Sunak, though, it’s never a bad time. It goes with the job, some would say. If only that were true. The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.