‘Elder statesman at the age of 44’: Rishi Sunak’s speech cracks up UK Parliament

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent speech that has since gone viral, shows the UK Parliament cracking up at his self-deprecating humour. In his response to the King’s Speech at the Parliament, Sunak told the Opposition, referring to his own experience of being appointed prime minister and eventually losing to Keir Starmer to vacate the role, that “life comes to you fast”. 

“If I may offer some words of advice to members opposite. On the government benches, life comes at you fast. Soon you might be fortunate enough to be tapped on the shoulder and offered a junior ministerial role. Then you’ll find yourself attending Cabinet. Then in the Cabinet. And then when the prime minister’s position becomes untenable, you might end up being called to the highest office. And before you know it, you have a bright future behind you. And you are left wondering whether you can credibly be an elder statesman at the age of 44,” said Sunak as the house roared with laughter. 

Sunak congratulated newly-elected UK PM Keir Starmer for his decisive victory in the elections. He said Starmer deserves the goodwill of all the members of the house. But as he promised change, so must he deliver it. “We on this side of the house will hold him accountable for delivering the commitments that they made to the British people,” he said. Sunak said his party will not oppose the government for the “sake of it”. 

The former UK PM said that one of the most humbling part of the job was to see people who have faced tragedy, turn their experience not into anger or bitterness but towards campaigning to ensure other families do not have to face the same. 

Supporting Ukraine, Sunak said that the UK government might have changed but the nation’s commitment to the war-torn country remains unchanged.

He said that the UK Chancellor is keen to paint a bleak picture of the economy but that’s not what the facts say. “Inflation at 2 per cent, unemployment 4 per cent, and the fastest growing economy in the G7 so far,” said Sunak, adding that Starmer’s party has already inherited an economy that is on an upward trajectory. 

The Conservative Party faced a historic election defeat in the UK elections, with a record number of cabinet ministers, including former Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, losing their seats. In his resignation speech, former Prime Minister Sunak took responsibility for the party's election loss that put Labour Party's Keir Starmer on the seat of power.