Dishwasher stacking and making the bed. Household chores I’m sure many of us dread, or tolerate at best, but for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, those are his favourites.
If you’re wondering why, it’s apparently because ‘both have a nice satisfying ending’, but if, like me, you’re wondering who cares, then the answer is no one.
These ‘revelations’ from the UK’s richest ever Prime Minister to date came out in an interview released on Instagram this week for International Women’s Day and it’s safe to say that, this attempt to make him and his millionaire businesswoman wife, Akshata Murty, seem more relatable to the average family, did not work.
In fact, it spectacularly failed and the backlash was instant.
‘In a country where people can’t afford their lighting bills, somehow we’re not actually interested in how a billionaire splits household chores,’ commented one viewer.
‘This is incredibly tone deaf considering current events. Do better.’ Another stated.
A third said, ‘How about asking him if he’ll commit to ending the gender pay gap, making it easier for women to escape physical and financial abusive relationships, and supporting women in the workplace by providing better childcare?’
I couldn’t agree more.
I mean, come on, with their hundreds of millions behind them, household chores are hardly something this couple is going to squabble over, are they? They have access to every single means of support and help that is available – unlike the rest of us.
Us ‘normal’ parents don’t have time to sit and ponder which chore we like the best because we’re too busy rushing through them in an effort to get the kids to nursery and school on time before starting work.
Even when it comes to their after work schedules, their efforts to be like ‘the common man’ just fall flat.
Akshata says that she is the one who does more exercise as she has ‘more time and flexibility’. I’d like to remind her that, that flexibility that comes with being one of the wealthiest people in the country her husband runs.
Meanwhile Rishi explained in the video that he is ‘too exhausted’ after a long day to read, so all he can be bothered to do is collapse in front of an episode of his favourite sitcom.
‘We have watched the same episodes of Friends, I don’t know how many times,’ chimes in Akshata. ‘Never gets old!’ chirps Rishi.
I mean, could he be any more cringe?
By comparison, last night my husband Tom and I did indeed sit down on the sofa together but it wasn’t to laugh about whether or not Ross and Rachel were on a break. It was to discuss how we are going to afford our childcare bill going up £7 a day from April.
That may be small change to the likes of Rishi Sunak, but for us it meant sitting with a notepad, trying to work out how we can make that balance with our rising broadband standing order and phone tariffs, all while trying to estimate just how much the council bill is going to come in at.
My friends are all discussing how much their mortgages have gone up by. A lady in the shop told me yesterday how she used to be able to afford to take her children out for tea once a month but her rising bills have swallowed up that small treat.
These aren’t the conversations or sacrifices our chummy-chummy ‘I’m just like you’ Prime Minister is having to have or make.
In fact, last year, while the rest of us sat at home freezing because we couldn’t (and still can’t) afford to put our heating on after the cost of gas soared, Rishi personally paid to have his local electricity grid upgraded.
Why? So he could power his heated 40ft private swimming pool at the manor house he uses at weekends. A manor house that, just in case you’re interested, also has its own gym and tennis court.
Meanwhile, in the real world, leisure centres – including my local one – are closing down.
We need a Prime Minister who is working to allay our worries – not one who wastes time telling us about his domestic preferences
I could go for a run, of course, like Rishi does. Out in the streets, where numerous councils are turning off street lamps clearly with no regard for women’s safety.
The video might have been more bearable, perhaps, if they’d at least been honest.
If they had admitted that their lives in Downing Street – and the other end of the wealth spectrum – are nowhere near the average person’s, maybe it would have been better received.
Or maybe they should have just said, ‘Nah, this maybe isn’t something we should be talking about.’
Because we all know just how wealthy they are. That isn’t news and discussing their personal lives in such a way isn’t going to warm people to them.
And besides, do we really need our Prime Minister to be relatable? I think not.
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What we need him to be is honest. To know he’s working in the country’s best interests.
The NHS is long-since passed breaking point. House prices are becoming unattainable. Hate crimes are rife, and rising. And there are two appalling wars going on in the world.
We need a Prime Minister who is working to fix these things and allay our worries about the future. Not one who wastes time telling us about his domestic preferences in ridiculous, out-of-touch interviews.
Take control of your finances now
So, Rishi, I suggest you spend the next few months doing your job. Because with a general election on the horizon, you might have plenty more time on your hands for those chores.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk.
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