Moment minister Gillian Keegan wells up as Rishi Sunak uses Tory conference speech to describe his Indian grandfather’s joy when he joined Parliament – as he says he’s ‘proud’ that being the first British-Asian PM is ‘just not a big deal’
Cabinet minister Gillian Keegan was seen welling up as Rishi Sunak used his Tory conference speech to describe his Indian grandfather’s joy when he joined Parliament.
The Education Secretary wiped tears away from her eyes as the Prime Minister recounted how his family expressed their pride on his election as an MP.
Mr Sunak used his keynote address to the Conservative gathering in Manchester to describe how Britain had ‘done a huge amount’ for his immigrant family.
He told the audience how he often thinks ‘about how different our lives would be if my grandparents had not left India and East Africa all those years ago’.
Mr Sunak said he was ‘proud’ to be Britain’s first British-Asian PM, but added: ‘I’m even prouder that it’s just not a big deal’.
Cabinet minister Gillian Keegan was seen welling up as Rishi Sunak used his Tory conference speech to describe his Indian grandfather’s joy when he joined Parliament
The Education Secretary wiped tears away from her eyes as the Prime Minister recounted how his family expressed their pride on his election as an MP
The PM was introduced onto the conference stage by his wife, Akshata Murty, and his address made frequent references to his family and his background
Who is Rishi Sunak’s nanaji?
Rishi Sunak’ maternal grandfather, Raghubir Sain Berry, was born in Ludhiana – a city in the north Indian state of Punjab.
He migrated to East Africa in the early 1950s, to what is now Tanzania, before moving to Oadby, Leicestershire, in 1968.
According to the Oadby and Wigston Mail, he was a customs and excise worker while in the old British territory of Tanganyika in East Africa.
He then joined Inland Revenue at the Leicester office on his arrival to the UK.
His 30 years in the civil service as a tax collector earned him an MBE on Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honours list in 1988.
‘We left Leicester well in time, but the traffic was so bad that we arrived at the Palace with only 15 minutes to spare,’ he said as he described a near-disastrous journey to Buckingham Palace to collect his honour.
Raghubir was a keen tennis and bridge player after moving to Leicestershire, the newspaper said.
The PM was introduced onto the conference stage by his wife, Akshata Murty, and Mr Sunak’s address – his first Tory conference speech as premier – made frequent references to his family and his background.
‘Never let anyone tell you that this is a racist country. It is not,’ he said.
‘My story is a British story. A story about how a family can go from arriving here with little to Downing Street in three generations.
‘What does the Conservative Party offer a family of immigrants?
‘The chance to become Energy Secretary, Business Secretary, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, even the chance to become Prime Minister.’
Mr Sunak then spoke of his maternal grandfather, Raghubir Berry, who was born in Ludhiana – a city in the north Indian state of Punjab – and who migrated to East Africa in the early 1950s before later moving to Britain.
‘When I first became an MP, my grandfather came to Parliament to see me,’ the PM said.
‘As we stood in Westminster Hall, on that floor which Disraeli and Churchill had walked across so many times, my grandfather suddenly got out his mobile phone and started to make a quick call.
‘I was a new MP and I wasn’t quite sure whether phones were allowed there or not.
‘And I said “Nanaji, nanaji, can’t you just wait a moment”.
‘He replied that he was calling the landlady he had when he had first arrived in this country:
‘He said to me: “I just wanted to tell her where I was standing”.
‘I am proud to be the first British-Asian Prime Minister, but you know what I’m even prouder that it’s just not a big deal.
‘And just remember: it was the Conservative Party who made that happen, not the Labour Party.’
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