Election backlash looms for UK Indian diaspora’s ex-poster boy Rishi Sunak

Dissatisfaction with rising living costs and economic stagnation could see the PM lose his seat, as Indian diaspora joins anti-Tory wave

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Britain’s Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak at a campaign event in London on June 30. The UK general election is on July 4. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 2 Jul 2024Updated: 6:18pm, 2 Jul 2024

Rishi Sunak, once a poster boy for Britain’s Indian diaspora, now faces their growing dissatisfaction amid rising living costs and economic stagnation – further hurting his prospects in the country’s general election on Thursday.

The opposition Labour Party has been more than 20 points ahead in surveys for over 18 months as Britons tire of Conservative Party rule. Polls last month forecast that Sunak could even lose his own seat in the general election.

The Indian diaspora makes up about 2.5 per cent of Britain’s population, meaning their disenchantment with Sunak and his Tories could prove significant.

“A lot of pain points are coming out in the open and the larger diaspora is going with the sentiment of an anti-Tory wave. People are saying that maybe it’s time to bring a new government,” said Ashwin Krishnaswamy, a UK-based technology investor.

A man makes his way through a food aisle in a supermarket in west London last month. Rising living costs have added to anti-Conservative sentiment. Photo: AFP

Rising living costs and disappointing economic growth have contributed to this perception, said Krishnaswamy, adding that the Conservatives are “getting squeezed from both sides because they have not increased wealth creation”.