By Jessica Frank-Keyes
There was no lectern for Rishi Sunak at the Business Connect conference.
Striding across the stage at the glossy King’s Place venue in Islington, the PM was happily, confidently, on home turf; his equivalent of Starmer’s efforts to channel his inner toolmaker.
While it was a slick suit and tie, as opposed to shirt sleeves on the factory floor, it must be said Sunak’s corporate role-play appeared a lot more authentic than his opponents’ attempt.
He fielded questions from C-suite executives with ease, greeted top business leaders by name, and cracked jokes about family holidays to India and buying Anya Hindmarch handbags for wife Akshata Murty.
And if Boris Johnson’s infamous ‘f*** business’ jibe summed up his former boss’ attitude to the FTSE, Sunak’s approach is more along the lines of taking it out for a candlelit dinner.
His passionate utterances that his government is “unashamedly pro-business” rang true.
Speaking to reporters after his foray on the main stage, he quipped ‘I could talk to you all day about this’.
His enthusiasm for discussing the nuances of everything from funding AI research, to financial regulatory reform, was entirely genuine. His eyes practically lit up.
Sunak is pro-business because he is business – it’s what he knows, it’s who he is.
Thornier questions – such as the imminent collapse of the CBI and post-Brexit VAT changes – were either left to his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt or dodged entirely.
With Labour’s Rachel Reeves snapping at his party’s heels to romance the City via whatever seafood-based metaphor you fancy, Sunak is right to lean heavily on his Silicon Valley style.
Conservative MPs seem to recognise this PM is exactly what they need right now to convince voters they’re in with a chance.
For Sunak and business, it all appears to be a bit of a love story.
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