Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty staged a surprise appearance on the Tory conference stage on Wednesday as she introduced her “best friend” the Prime Minister to give his keynote speech.
It was the first major televised speech by Mrs Murty, who has hitherto stayed on the sidelines of her husband’s meteoric political ascent.
The mum of two was not billed by the party to speak as the four-day conference drew to a close in Manchester.
It was a surprise to Mr Sunak too for her to “gatecrash” the gathering, she said, praising his “honesty and integrity” in the face of complaints that his year-old Government has signally failed on precisely those scores.
Mrs Murty sought to clarify some rumours about the Prime Minister.
“I’m afraid he does love a good rom com. The cheesier the better,” she said, while adding that TV hit Emily In Paris “is not informing his outlook to the European Union”.
Britain’s first lady, the daughter of one of India’s richest men, said that aspiration was key to Mr Sunak’s outlook when they met as students, both aged 24, in California.
She was struck not by his “smart suits or love for hoodies”, Mrs Murty said, but by “his deep love for his home the United Kingdom and his sincere desire to ensure as many people as possible had the chance to have the opportunities that he was lucky enough to have”.
Mr Sunak then took the stage, thanking his wife and evoking his conference slogan by declaring that she was “the best long-term decision for a brighter future I ever made”.
The sentimentality over, the Prime Minister then had to lay out a series of contentious changes including axing the Birmingham-Manchester leg of the HS2 high-speed rail link, as he tries to rescue the Tories’ dismal standing in the polls ahead of Labour’s conference next week.
