Rishi Sunak reveals he prays with his daughters before bed

2022-12-15

‘It helps give life purpose and meaning’: Rishi Sunak reveals his Hindu faith provides ‘strength’ and he prays with his daughters before bedtime

The Prime Minister said that Hinduism is not just a religion but a ‘way of life’
Rishi Sunak has a statue of the Hindu god, Ganesh, on his desk
He is still fanatical about Christmas and is overseeing a No 10 carol concert

Rishi Sunak has said his Hindu faith gives him ‘strength and resilience’, revealing he prays with his daughters before putting them to bed.

In a candid interview, the Prime Minister said Hinduism is not just a religion but a ‘way of life’ that instils the values of service, duty and strong family bonds.

Mr Sunak told the Spectator: ‘Faith is important to me for two reasons. For me, it certainly helps give life purpose and meaning.’

He said he has a small shrine at home, adding: ‘I pray with my kids before I put them to bed. Not that I do as much of that any more. The thing about Hinduism is that, yes, it’s a religion, but it is also just a way of life. It’s cultural. So it sometimes feels broader than that.’ He has a statue of Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu god known as the ‘remover of obstacles’, on his desk.

Rishi Sunak said: ‘Faith is important to me for two reasons. For me, it certainly helps give life purpose and meaning’

Mr Sunak said the values of Hinduism are ‘partly religious values, partly cultural values’, adding: ‘It doesn’t fit neatly into that box. But strong families are important, service is an important concept, and duty is a really important concept in Hinduism.’

But despite this, the Prime Minister is fanatical about Christmas – and revealed he is overseeing the No 10 staff carol concert. He said: ‘I’ve made sure we are divvying up the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ across all the different teams in the building, which I’m not sure everyone is loving. Five Gold Rings is the one everyone wants!… It turns out that there are a few choral scholars in the building, so I assembled them into a choir.’

Mr Sunak has also taken charge of the music for No 10 Christmas receptions, but his go-to is Michael Buble’s Christmas Deluxe album.

‘In the evenings working on my own I just put Buble on. It’s great when you are signing Christmas cards to get you in the mood,’ he said.

Mr Sunak said that while it was ‘a wonderful thing’ to become Britain’s first Asian PM, it was ‘also wonderful that it’s not that big a deal’. ‘That second bit is equally as important as the first because it shows we have done a really extraordinarily good job of this as a country,’ he said.

Mr Sunak also spoke about his failed bid to join a cricket team in his North Yorkshire constituency. He inquired about joining the ‘friendly, sociable and inclusive’ Kirby Sigston team, but was told not to assume he would make the cut.

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