New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s history of embarrassing gaffes

The UK’s new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has won the battle to lead his country, only after overcoming a history of embarrassing gaffes.

The UK’s next Prime Minister Rishi Sunak already has a string of awkward moments behind him as he becomes the country’s third leader this year.

Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty are reported to be worth £730 million ($A1.3 billion), leading to many commentators claiming he is out of touch with the British people.

This was not helped in March when, asked about how rising cost of living was impacting him, the then-Chancellor said his family had noticed the increasing price of bread because each member of the family buys different breads.

“We have a whole range of different … we all have different breads in my house, a degree of healthiness between my wife, myself and my kids,” he told BBC Breakfast.

It led to ridicule from Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine, who called it his “‘let them eat cake’ moment”.

“The Sunak household clearly has bread to spare, but for families struggling to make ends meet the Chancellor has offered only crumbs,” she said.

During his previous run for PM following the resignation of Boris Johnson in July, video emerged of Mr Sunak appearing to brag about taking public money away from “deprived urban areas”, drawing further criticism of elitism.

“We inherited a bunch of formulas from the Labour Party that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas. That needed to be undone, and I started the work of undoing that,” he said.

Rishi Sunak could be poised to enter Downing Street as early as today.

In August, an exclusive video showed Sunak boasting that he was prepared to take public money out of “deprived urban areas” to help wealthy towns.

Read more: https://t.co/uZMpjK4v36pic.twitter.com/WLMPJFFa1n

— The New Statesman (@NewStatesman) October 24, 2022

Critics have also pointed out footage of a young Mr Sunak from a 2001 BBC documentary called Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl, where he spoke about his aristocratic friends.

“I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are working class … Well, not working class,” he said.

Rishi Sunak, next UK prime minister, in 2001:
"I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper-class, I have friends who are, you know, working-class. Well...not working-class." pic.twitter.com/z9zkdMlP1T

— In Context (@incontextmedia) October 24, 2022

While a large amount of criticism around Mr Sunak stems from his wealth, a number of gaffes throughout his time in public life are more bizarre than damning.

Footage emerged of him seemingly unsure of how to use a credit card machine as he attempted to buy a can of Coke.

“not out of touch with the nation” pic.twitter.com/KGQ5zCpZXT

— Paul Douglas, Smiling Politely (@TVPaulD) October 23, 2022

It came during a photo op where he was caught out posing with a petrol station employee’s car, pretending to fill it up as the government announced a cut to petrol prices.

Stream more UK news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Rishi Sunak filling up a Kia belonging to a Sainsbury’s employee as part of a photo shoot. Picture: Twitter, @RishiSunak

Mr Sunak, a self-professed “Coke addict” made two school students laugh in a bizarre interview with them where he professed his love for the soft drink (not the drug).

“I’m a Coke addict, a total Coke addict,” he said, before quickly clarifying, “a Coca-Cola addict!”

“I have seven fillings to show for it. I genuinely have seven fillings because I got through a lot of the stuff when I was younger, which is very bad, so don’t do that.”

The exchange was far from his only embarrassing brain-fade, with the self-professed Southampton Football Club fan seemingly out of touch with his team.

Speaking at an event in Manchester in August, he said Southampton would be back to its winning ways, “starting by beating (Manchester) United this weekend”.

The problem was Southampton’s game that weekend was against Leicester City, creating an awkward moment for Mr Sunak.

Taken 32 years but worth the wait.

Now let’s hope it lasts 😬 pic.twitter.com/Wxv7e1suFE

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 7, 2020

In another embarrassing encounter during his initial attempt at becoming PM, Mr Sunak was asked by Spectator TV about whether he would look to spend more time in Scotland if he were the UK’s leader.

“I think people can already see I take that seriously,” he said. “I was the Chancellor who set up an economic campus for the government and for the treasury of Darlington.”

The response led to a confused reaction from the interviewer, as Mr Sunak apparently believed the English town of Darlington in Durham was actually in Scotland.