How 5ft6 Rishi Sunak is shortest PM since Winston Churchill at 5ft5

Standing on the shoulders of giants! How 5ft6 Rishi Sunak is the shortest PM since WWII hero Churchill at 5ft5… and joins exclusive ‘under 5ft7 club’ of world leaders form Macron to Zelenksy – but is he taller than Napoleon?

• At 5ft 5in, Second World War hero Sir Winston was shorter than Mr Sunak
• French president Emmanuel Macron is just under 5ft 7in
• Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to be around 5ft 5 
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is also 5ft 5, so shorter than Mr Sunak
• Napoleon was of average height for his era but what satirised as being short 

He is rightly being heralded as the UK’s first non-white PM, but Rishi Sunak’s height is making fewer headlines. 

This is despite the fact that, at just 5ft 6inches tall, the former Chancellor is the shortest occupant of Number 10 since Winston Churchill.

At 5ft 5in, Second World War hero Sir Winston was shorter than Mr Sunak, who is now joining the ‘under 5ft 7in club’ of European leaders. 

French president Emmanuel Macron is just under 5ft 7in, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to be around 5ft 5 and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is only slightly taller than his German counterpart.

Mr Sunak is however almost certainly taller than infamous French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte was.

Whilst Napoleon is believed to have been of average height for his era – around 5ft 5in – the notion that he was short was ingrained in public consciousness by famed English cartoonist James Gillray. 

He is rightly being heralded as the UK’s first non-white PM, but Rishi Sunak’s height is making fewer headlines. This is despite the fact that, at just 5ft 6inches tall, the former Chancellor is the shortest occupant of Number 10 since Winston Churchill. At 5ft 5in, Second World War hero Sir Winston was shorter than Mr Sunak

Mr Sunak, who is now joining the ‘under 5ft 7in club’ of European leaders. French president Emmanuel Macron is just under 5ft 7in, whilst Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is 5ft 6

Mr Sunak is however almost certainly taller than infamous French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. Whilst Napoleon is believed to have been of average height for his era – around 5ft 5in – the notion that he was short was ingrained in public consciousness by famed English cartoonist James Gillray

Mr Sunak’s height does put him at odds with many of the UK’s other allies. 

US President Joe Biden is just under 5ft 10, whilst Canada’s Justin Trudeau is 6ft 1 and Dutch PM Mark Rutte is 6ft 3in.

Russia’s despot ruler Vladimir Putin is an estimated 5ft 7in, but North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is just 5ft 2in. 

Mr Sunak’s predecessor as PM, Liz Truss, is around 5ft 5in, whilst his former boss Boris Johnson is just under 5ft 8. 

Other recent Tory PMs have also been taller than Mr Sunak. David Cameron is just over 6ft, whilst Theresa May is around an inch taller than the new PM.

Former Labour Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are 6ft and 5ft 11in respectively, whilst Margaret Thatcher was 5ft 5in.

Her successor John Major is 5ft 11in. 

Going back further, Labour’s James Callaghan was 6ft 1in, but his party colleague Harold Wilson, who served twice as PM, was 5ft 8. 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz is just 5ft 5in, making him even shorter than Mr Sunak

US President Joe Biden is just under 5ft 10, whilst Canada’s Justin Trudeau is 6ft 1

It comes after Mr Sunak left Twitter users baffled yesterday when he appeared to gain an inch or two as he was cheered by party colleagues outside Tory party headquarters.

Video showed him suddenly rising in the air as other MPs clapped around him. 

Some users suggested he may have been walking backwards up some steps which gave the illusion of suddenly getting taller. 

Last year, it was reported that the then PM Mr Johnson was appointing tall ministers to annoy Mr Sunak.

In his September 2021 reshuffle, he appointed 6ft 5in Simon Clarke as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The Treasury team also included Economic Secretary John Glen, who is more than 6ft.  

The image-conscious Mr Sunak is also known for positioning himself in photos so that his shorter stature is less obvious 

In a photo with his Treasury team in March last year, he was seen at the top of the staircase of Number 11, with taller members of his team lower down. 

The average height for a man in the UK is 5ft 9in, whilst for a woman it is 5ft 3in.

Mr Sunak took up the reins as leader of the Conservative Party without a vote after rivals Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson dropped out of the race for No 10.

Allies hope he will stabilise the party following Mr Johnson’s dramatic downfall and his successor’s tumultuous tenure spanning only six weeks. 

The new Tory leader is expected to address the nation just before noon, before entering No 10 as the UK’s first Hindu prime minister, the first of Asian heritage, and the youngest for more than 200 years at the age of 42.

The former chancellor will then turn his attention to assembling a top team that he will hope can return a measure of stability to both the Conservatives and the country.

Out to bat for the Sunak camp on Tuesday, former minister Victoria Atkins said she believed the Tories had ‘turned a corner’ and would now ‘settle down’ under the stewardship of the new PM.

She insisted he would stick to the Conservative 2019 manifesto, meaning there would be a continued focus on levelling up, the NHS and security. 

Last year, it was reported that the then PM Mr Johnson was appointing tall ministers to annoy Mr Sunak. Above: Mr Sunak as Chancellor with his fellow Treasury ministers

The image-conscious Mr Sunak is also known for positioning himself in photos so that his shorter stature is less obvious In a photo with his Treasury team in March last year, he was seen at the top of the staircase of Number 11, with taller members of his team lower down 

Mr Sunak now has the daunting task of leading the nation through an economic crisis only exacerbated by the chaotic legacy of Ms Truss.

A wave of industrial unrest, a buckling health service and the risk of a nuclear escalation by Russian President Vladimir Putin are only some of the challenges he faces.

Mr Sunak’s ascendency from MP to PM is the fastest in modern political history, having first won the constituency of Richmond in North Yorkshire in 2015.

However, his journey to the top job has not been without its hitches, having been fined alongside Mr Johnson for breaching coronavirus rules and having faced questions over his wife Akshata Murty’s ‘non-dom’ status for tax purposes.

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