NEW DELHI – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his backing to his under-fire finance minister Rishi Sunak, saying he will remain in his job as the country’s second most powerful politician after the next cabinet reshuffle expected later this year.
Sunak, once seen as a strong candidate to succeed Johnson, has faced a salvo of criticism for not giving enough cost-of-living support to households, his wealthy wife’s non-domiciled tax status and a fine he received, along with Johnson, for breaking lockdown rules.
Asked on a trip to India whether Sunak will still be the finance minister in the autumn, Johnson said: “The answer to that is yes”.
Johnson declined to answer questions about whether other ministers will keep their jobs.
“You’re not going to get any more out of me,” he said according to Reuters. “Let’s talk about what we’re doing and let’s not talk about who’s going to do it.”
Sunak has also been criticised for holding a US “green card” – an immigration status intended for permanent US residents – after he became finance minister in 2020.
An opinion poll published by polling firm YouGov recently showed 40% of respondents considered Sunak to be incompetent, up 23 points from January last year but still less than the 66% who think Johnson is incompetent.
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