Student Voice - A Dinner with Rishi Sunak
On Friday 1st October, I was afforded the opportunity to attend a private dinner with the Chancellor, as my role as Secretary for Lichfield and Sutton Coldfield Young Conservatives. The event was held at Swinfen Hall, and went on until the very late hours of the evening. The Chancellor arrived at 19:18 that evening and was immediately swarmed by political zealots, desperate for a photo opportunity and the possibility of a conversation about the economics of Lichfield life. He was smartly dressed in a full tuxedo, which a conversation with his private secretary revealed to be a rarity as he apparently flaunts the fashion rules.
My friends and I, eager to meet this political leviathan off the TV, entered the crowds and were immediately greeted by him. He was immensely polite and paid an interest in all of us, asking questions proactively, which was refreshing as some of our modern politicians seem more interested in those whom ‘matter most’. After approximately an hour of him working around us all and taking brief photos and engaging in a quick conversation, we all headed to our tables.
Once the starters were taken back, the Chancellor arose in front of a crowd of 118, and gave a more politically frank and honest speech about the situation of the economy and politics currently. He interjected it with some amusing remarks, stating how he had been to several dinners over the past year and how the response had been the same “you are even smaller in real life than on TV!” (Rishi being 5 feet 6 inches tall). He also stated how his wife had needed to explain what Mr Sunak did to his youngest daughter - in reference to his long nights at the office, his wife had told his youngest daughter that ‘Daddy works in Big Ben’. He said how he was quite amused and pleased with this, to which his wife responded, ‘I would not be too pleased, she thinks you fix clocks for a living!’
After his speech in which he spoke about clocks, but also about the Government’s economic position on the COVID recovery package amongst other things, we were afforded the opportunity to ask questions. I, having already asked countless teachers, already had a few lined up and hence was able to ask immediately after catching Michael Fabricant’s (the association’s MP) eye based on employment. I asked ‘We have a surplus in jobs at the moment, yet we have a rise of unemployment at 1 million, what would you say to combat this issue, not just in the COVID economic environment but also in typical economic circumstances?’ to which he responded stating how the Government understood the resistance that businesses had, and that they had rolled out the kickstart scheme to encourage business to hire more staff. It is clear to me that he views the situation as a supply issue and that the Government needs to focus on improving the supply of labour. Despite my question being somewhat harsh for a private dinner, afterwards he still got a private photo with myself, and all my friends sat at my table.
Overall, the night was amazing, several photos secured and now the name-dropping ability to say I had met, spoken with and questioned the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
By Archie.
