LONDON: Members of the Conservative Party went crazy for Rishi Sunak at the final event of the Conservative leadership competition at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday night. Whenever they entered the stage, the crowd stood, roared, whistled, clapped and shouted, chanting “Rishi Rishi” in extraordinary scenes reminiscent of Beatlemania.
Sunak entered with a smile waving his arms and said “Thank you, thank you”. Grabbing the room like a rock star, he thanked his parents and wife Akshata, who were in the audience.
“The two people who inspired me to enter public service are actually here tonight – my mother and father,” Sunak told the crowd. She thanked him for making sacrifices and efforts to provide a better life for his children than his own, as his mother looked embarrassed. “It was the example of his service that inspired me to enter politics,” Sunak said. “Thank you for teaching me that there is no limit to what one can achieve with hard work and faith and love of family”. Sunak had the audience under his spell. He spoke a few sentences and he jumped with joy.
Asked what he sacrificed the most as a politician, he said it was “a terrible” father and husband while being the Vice Chancellor.
He thanked his “incredibly loving kind wife Akshata”. “I’m incredibly grateful that 18 years ago you let go of your heels and gave the little kid a chance with a backpack,” he said.
Sunak’s warm-up was MP Michael Gove, who put on a fiery performance, threatening to repeat his famous dance moves and telling members: “We’re going to put the Corbyn-pro-Brexit-blocking tax-boosting Keir Starmer anywhere near the power. Can’t let go.”
The noisy reaction from Sunak’s fans prompted Truss’s supporters to shout loudly whenever they entered or left the stage, but they did not reach the fever pitch of Sunak’s fans.
Former Conservative leader Ian Duncan Smith has previously voiced his support for foreign secretary, saying that she has “real steel in her backbone” and “produced trade deals when people told her she couldn’t”. Truss praised the femininity of the lioness and said that London was “disappointed by Mayor Sadiq Khan”.
Sunak reminded viewers that he had been focused on tackling inflation from day one, saying illegal migration is one of the “emergency facing the UK”.
Outside, despite the enthusiasm for the craze, the feeling was still there that the truss had won. An investment banker said, “I see Rishi more as an advisor or strategist than a PM. “Liz has more experience in public service.”
Councilor Arian Areti said: “The Rishi appeals to Londoners because he is of an ethnic background and hardworking. But many members, especially older members, do not come to the house. So the noise you saw tonight is not necessarily representative.”
Counselor Dory Schmetterling said that he prefers Truss because he understands economics well.
Britain will find out on Monday who is the new PM. But Wembley was Sunak’s night.