UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak's Wife's Financial Affairs Impact His Reputation, Ratings Drop For The First Time

UK's finance minster or Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak's favorability rating turned negative for the first time, sinking below that of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reported Bloomberg.

AFP

This development has come right after a series of damaging stories about Sunak's financial affairs and the reputation that he is not doing enough to help Britons facing surging living costs.

Sunak posted a net rating of minus 20 in the latest monthly tracker poll by Savanta ComRes, published on Wednesday. That's down 26 points in a month, and compares with a high of plus 30 in 2020. The online poll of 2,145 U.K. adults was conducted April 8-10, before both the chancellor and PM Johnson were fined by police for breaking the coronavirus rules their own government made.

?New Westminster Voting Intention?

?Labour 6pt lead

?Con 34 (+1)
?Lab 40 (=)
?LD 9 (-2)
??SNP 4 (-1)
?Green 4 (=)
??Other 8 (=)

2,145 UK adults, 8-10 April

(chg from 1-3 April) pic.twitter.com/RKRubUPcaa

¡ª Savanta ComRes (@SavantaComRes) April 13, 2022

This is the chancellor's second blow to the head after he made himself popular by opening the Treasury's spending taps during successive COVID-19 lockdowns and until just weeks ago was widely touted by politicians and the press as Johnson's most likely successor.

Sunak has been criticised, including by his own party members, for failing to help the most vulnerable families cope with a cost of living crisis when he gave an economic statement last month.

Last week, damaging revelations came out, including that his wife Akshata Murthy, holds non-domiciled status in the UK, meaning she doesn't pay British taxes on her foreign earnings. The daughter of Indian billionaire, Infosys Ltd. co-founder Narayana Murthy, Akshata later said she would now do so. Sunak was also pressured to acknowledge he had held a US green card until October 2021 -- by which time he'd been chancellor for more than a year and a half. Along with his wife's tax status, the news triggered a perception that the Sunak-Murthy family didn't see their long-term future in the UK.

BBC

¡°The fact we've seen such a drop in favorability during a tumultuous month for the chancellor ultimately points to the fact that all public goodwill he may have built up during the pandemic has all but evaporated,¡± Savanta ComRes Political Research Director Chris Hopkins said.

¡°A 26-point drop in one month feels unprecedented,¡± yet could have been even worse if the polling had been carried out after Sunak was fined, he said.

Savanta ComRes Political Research Director Chris Hopkins

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