As the UK election passes the halfway point, much of the focus has been on tax cuts and the economy, aside from Rishi Sunak's notable decision to leave the D-Day remembrance services early. With both leading parties trying to make the election about policies rather than personalities, it's hard to overlook just how much money Rishi Sunak has. The question is, how rich is rich? And is Keir Starmer rich? Or is he much like the average man or woman on the street?

 

Do Sunak and Starmer earn more than most? Spoiler alert: yes, they do, but by how much?

 

According to the ONS - As of 2024, the average annual salary in the UK varies by gender. For men, the average wage is approximately £30,525 per year. In contrast, women earn an average of about £25,336 per year. Sadly, although it is closing, the gender pay gap still exists. Obviously, the Prime Minister's salary and that of the leader of the opposition's salary are considerably higher than the average, £167,391 and £149,882, respectively. Still, given they both have super high-pressure jobs, that's to be expected, to some degree.

Let's now put Sunak and Starmer's net worth into perspective. According to the ONS, the median household net wealth in Great Britain is approximately £302,500, a figure that includes all types of wealth, such as property, private pensions, financial assets, and physical assets. For couples, particularly those nearing or in retirement, the net worth tends to be higher due to accumulated property and pension wealth. Now, compare this to Sunak's and Starmer's net worth, and the scale of their wealth becomes even more apparent.

 

So what's Sunak and Starmer's net worth? This is where things start to get interesting.

Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty have a combined net worth of approximately £651 million. This vast wealth largely comes from Akshata Murty's stake in Infosys, an Indian IT company co-founded by her father. Over the past year, their wealth has increased by more than £120 million due to the rising value of Infosys shares. To put this into context, that averages out to £10 million per month.

 

To really bring the enormity of this figure to life, let's look at England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane's earnings. They are approximately £362,000 per week – most would agree that's a lot of money. When you break down the weekly amount earned over the past 12 months ( through share price growth) by Rishi and his wife Akshata and put it in football terms ( i.e. weekly salary), that figure comes to an incredible £2,307,692 per week. Your eyes don't deceive; that's over £ 2.3 million a week.

 

Let's now shift our attention to Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the UK Labour Party. He has an estimated net worth of around £7.7 million. His wealth is mostly derived from his career in law and his earnings as a politician. Starmer has served as a barrister, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and an MP, with his political salary being supplemented by earnings from legal work and property investments. Notably, he owns land in Surrey valued at around £10 million, acquired in 1996 during his time as a human rights lawyer.​

To put Sir Keir's net worth figure in context – that's 25 times more than the median household net worth in the UK. Not in the same league as Sunak, for sure, but certainly not in the same league as the average man or woman on the street.

Does this matter? Can they really be called men of the people?

Only you can decide on the 4th of July.

 

 

Image Credit - Chris McAndrew, Wiki Commons