Sunak’s wife deployed as Tories’ doorstep secret weapon

Less than a year ago, Akshata Murty was photographed on the school run in a £570 pair of JW Anderson shearling and cork slippers.

But with months to go before the general election campaign, Rishi Sunak’s wife is more likely to be sporting a sensible pair of pumps than designer footwear as the couple make an apparently conscious effort to play down their wealthy status to appeal to voters.

The 43-year-old business woman has, i can reveal, already started knocking on doors to drum up support for the Conservatives in the 2024 election campaign, and insiders say she will do whatever is helpful for the party as polling day draws near.

They believe Ms Murty will be an asset to Mr Sunak during the campaign. A former Downing Street adviser said she could be used as a sort of “shield” to help humanise the image of an embattled Prime Minister, who was facing more questions over his leadership from within his own party this week.

Ms Murty helped out with canvassing for the Tories during last year’s local elections, including in Watford, where she met local businesspeople alongside deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden and local Conservative MP Dean Russell, but this is expected to step up a gear ahead of the general election.

i has learned that she regularly goes out on the doorstep in her husband’s constituency of Richmond, Yorkshire, where Mr Sunak has an ultra-safe majority of more than 27,000. “She helps out with door knocking here and she is an asset,” a local source said. “She knows what she’s doing.”

But Ms Murty is also a billionaire’s daughter and estimated to have a fortune of at least £500m. There is speculation that her decision to donate her shares in the childcare company Koru Kids to charity, and the winding up last month of her investment vehicle, Catamaran Ventures UK, is an attempt to neutralise attacks by Labour that the Downing Street couple are out of touch with ordinary voters during the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Downing Street insists that the donation of shares was a personal decision by Ms Murty, and would not comment on whether it was a move to spike Labour’s guns.

But a former No 10 insider said Mr Sunak’s circle will have been keenly aware that the shares could have been an issue “going into an election in a cost of living crisis”, adding: “They do not want to be seen as elitist and out of touch.”

This apparent downplaying of the couple’s wealth could, observers believe, also see Ms Murty – whose sense of style has been hailed by Vogue and Tatler – choosing a more “accessible” wardrobe as she hits the campaign trail later this year.

The former No 10 insider admitted there was a “balance” to be struck in any possible style shift, however, because “authenticity” is key, adding: “She’s not going to be wearing Primark.”

The decision to make the most of Ms Murty during the campaign is a marked shift from a previous more defensive stance. Back in 2022 her PR advisers were ringing round newspaper journalists to try and limit the fall-out from the controversy over her tax status as her husband ran to become PM.

In the run-up to the general election, the Ms Murty is likely to maintain her profile on Instagram, where she updates her 257,000 followers on events she hosts in Downing Street – including her weekly Lessons at 10 project, where she invites schoolchildren into the residence for educational activities.

Giles Kenningham, who was head of press for David Cameron as prime minister and director of communications for the Conservative Party during the 2015 election, said the current Labour and Tory leaders had had relatively little time to introduce themselves to the electorate, and that members of their family could help present a more rounded image to voters.

He said Ms Murty – who last October surprised Tory activists by introducing her husband ahead of his conference speech – would almost certainly be an asset on the campaign trail.

“Sunak had a meteoric rise to the top, so the public will not have had five years to get to know him before the election campaign, and find out what he stands for, unlike Boris Johnson and Theresa May,” Mr Kenningham said.

Giving a spouse or partner a greater role in an election campaign can help with that familiarisation with voters,” he added. “It can shed light on what you stand for, who you are, what sort of character you are, what your background is. I expect [Ms Murty] will be used during the campaign, she will play a part – the question is how big of a role.

“It’s important [for a spouse or partner] not to get too involved in politics. Keep it human interest and soft focus, and not to be put in a position where she can be seen to have a view on politics.”

A key question is whether any attempt to play down Mr Sunak and Ms Murty’s wealth at the election can make a difference to attacks by Labour and the Lib Dems?

Sources in both opposition parties are clear: they will not resort to personal attacks on the Prime Minister’s wife. Ongoing questions about the transparency of the Sunaks’ financial affairs, however, are seen as legitimate, Labour officials said, because it goes to the heart of their claim that Mr Sunak is out of touch.

In 2022, after it emerged she had non-dom status, Ms Murty announced she would no longer claim the “remittance basis” and would start paying UK tax on her worldwide income. She has not, however, fully given up her status as a non-dom.

When using your spouse goes wrong

Akshata Murty would not be the first leader’s spouse to emerge from the shadows to play a prominent role in an election.

A normally reticent Samantha Cameron gave an interview to ITV during the 2010 campaign to add a dimension of domesticated ordinariness to her politically polished husband, describing “Dave” as a “fantastic dad” who “makes a terrible mess” while cooking.

But there is a flipside to the greater exposure of political leaders’ spouses. In the run-up to the 2015 election, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and his wife Justine were filmed by the BBC in what looked like a very basic, functional kitchen before it emerged the family actually had a separate, properly furnished cooking area on another floor, prompting criticism that the Milibands had “two kitchens”.

In 2017, Theresa May – facing a difficult election campaign – joined her husband Philip on The One Show sofa where they ended up discussing which domestic jobs each of them did at home. It did not help her campaign and she ended up losing the Tory majority.

A Labour source said the party was “comfortable” with people having money and would not criticise a politician for having personal wealth in principle. The difference with Keir Starmer’s PMQs attacks on the Prime Minister, however, was based on his record in government.

They cite the fact he held a “fireside chat” with billionaire Elon Musk last year, as well as his private jet “habit”.

In the first PMQs of 2024, Sir Keir gave a flavour of Labour’s election campaign line of attack against Mr Sunak: the Prime Minister, the Labour leader claimed, did not “get Britain” because “the view on the ground is very different to that from his private jet”.

Mr Sunak responded, in an interview with GB News, claiming that opposition attacks on his wealth were a “political smear” and showed Labour’s “lack of ambition for our country”. Suggesting he was unashamed of his wealth, he insisted: “I worked really hard for everything that I’ve got.”

It did not help Sir Keir’s case when it later emerged that the Labour leader had taken a private jet, paid for by the Emir of Qatar, although the party insisted it had been to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.

But in another apparent attempt to play down the couple’s multi-millionaire status, Mr Sunak did not attend last week’s world economic forum in Davos for the second year running, with No 10 insisting this was because he wanted to focus on domestic issues.

The Lib Dems – whose leader Ed Davey is seeking to win votes from the Tories in Blue Wall seats – say the issue of Mr Sunak being out of touch does come up on the doorstep. But the party’s strategists want to take the Prime Minister to task on his actions rather than his background or personal circumstances.

All three main parties plan to campaign on the economy, which – despite the attention on the Rwanda bill last week – remains the most important issue for voters.

And with the UK’s economic recovery looking fragile and the Conservatives falling further behind in the polls, it may be too much to expect Ms Murty’s deployment as an election secret weapon to make much difference in her husband’s battle to turn things round.