Rishi and billionaire heiress wife donate more than £100,000 to Winchester
Rishi Sunak and billionaire heiress wife donate more than £100,000 to top public school Winchester College – where he was head boy
Rishi Sunak’s personal ratings negative for first time in Redfield & Wilton pollThe Chancellor has faced backlash over mini-Budget and cost-of-living crisis Boris Johnson was preferred to Mr Sunak as PM despite his Partygate travails
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Rishi Sunak and his billionaire heiress wife have given more than £100,000 to top public school Winchester, it was revealed today.
The Chancellor and Akshata Murthy are listed as ‘Wykeham benefactors’ in the magazine of the school – where he was head boy.
Mr Sunak’s spokeswoman insisted that the couple ‘donate to numerous charities’ and were helping to fund scholarships for children who would not otherwise be able to go.
However, the news – uncovered by Sky News – again casts the spotlight on the Cabinet minister’s wealth at a time when families are struggling with a huge cost of living squeeze.
Former banker Mr Sunak is a multi-millionaire in his own right, while Ms Murthy’s father is one of India’s richest men.
The magazine for the school – which has annual fees of £43,335 a year or £14,445 a term – includes the Sunaks in a list of people ‘whose total donations to Winchester College (including pledges) are greater than £100,000’.
Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murthy are listed as ‘Wykeham benefactors’ in the magazine of the school – where he was head boy
Mr Sunak’s spokeswoman insisted that the couple ‘donate to numerous charities’ and were helping to fund scholarships for children who would not otherwise be able to go to Winchester College (pictured)
The magazine for the school – which has annual fees of £43,335 a year or £14,445 a term – includes the Sunaks in a list of people ‘whose total donations to Winchester College (including pledges) are greater than £100,000’
Mr Sunak’s spokeswoman said: ‘Rishi and his wife have donated to numerous charities and philanthropic causes for many years and will continue to do so.
‘These donations are made to help fund scholarships for children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go to Winchester.’
In a recent interview, Mr Sunak said of his time at Winchester: ‘I was really lucky to have that opportunity. It was something that was really extraordinary, it certainly put my life on a different trajectory.
‘As I said, it’s part of the reason I’m sitting here and I’m really grateful to have had that opportunity.
‘And I look back on that time. It’s helped make me who I am as a person, and it helps me do the job in the way that I do it.
‘And it confirms to me that education is one of the best tools at our disposal in politics to spread opportunity.’
The donations emerged as Mr Sunak‘s personal ratings have turned negative for the first time after a ferocious backlash at his mini-Budget.
The Chancellor’s net score has dipped six points over the past week as a poll laid bare the political damage from the cost-of-living crisis.
Overall his approval rating now stands at minus five in the Redfield & Wilton Strategies research – worse than Keir Starmer.
He is still well above Boris Johnson, but the latter is seen as a better option than Mr Sunak to be PM despite his travails over Partygate.
Mr Sunak has been accused of failing to do enough to help struggling families in his Spring Statement a fortnight ago.
He was branded an ‘illusionist’ after hailing his ‘tax-cutting’ moves, despite the burden being on course to reach the highest level since the 1940s.
Rishi Sunak’s net score has dipped six points over the past week as a poll laid bare the political damage from the cost-of-living crisis
The government’s own watchdog has predicted that this year will see the biggest fall in disposable incomes since records began in the 1950s.
There are claims Mr Sunak is already having to draw up a new support package, as he struggles to keep a lid on the UK’s £2.3trillion debt mountain and rising interest payments.
He was also ridiculed for photo-ops after the mini-Budget, including posing putting fuel into a Kia Rio owned by a Sainsbury’s staff member.
Mr Sunak’s score on the Redfield & Wilton Strategies tracker peaked at nearly 60 as the country went into lockdown in 2020 and he announced the huge furlough bailout.
However, his current net level of minus five compares to zero for Sir Keir. Mr Johnson recorded a dismal minus 21.
However, he is preferred to Mr Sunak as PM by a margin of 35 per cent to 29 per cent.
The poll blow for the Chancellor came after the latest Cabinet rankings for the ConservativeHome website showed him slumping from eleventh to third from bottom.
Mr Sunak’s score on the monthly survey of readers was just 7.9, compared to 38.8 previously.
At one point he was top of the regular chart – a position now held by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who has earned plaudits for the Ukraine response.
Although the poll is not scientific it is closely watched by ministers and MPs, and will set alarm bells ringing in No11.
Priti Patel is the only senior figure in negative territory, with a rating of minus 13.6 after anger at the Channel migrant situation and slow progress on Ukraine refugee visas.
Mr Johnson has seen his position improve slightly, rising to a score of 33 despite anxiously waiting to hear whether he has been fined over Partygate.
Mr Johnson was preferred to Mr Sunak as PM by a margin of 35 per cent to 29 per cent
