Sunak Pledges Advisory Earnings to Charity After Leaving UK Political Office

Rishi Sunak, who served as Britain's prime minister from October 2022 until the Conservative Party's electoral defeat in July, has accepted senior advisory positions at U.S. tech powerhouse Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic. The announcement, shared via a LinkedIn post on Thursday, comes just months after Sunak relinquished his role as opposition leader, marking a swift transition from frontline politics to the global tech sector. At 44, Sunak remains a sitting member of Parliament for Richmond and Northallerton, navigating a landscape where former leaders often leverage their expertise in high-profile corporate roles while adhering to strict post-office regulations.

Sunak emphasised ethical considerations in his statement, noting that all proceeds from these part-time engagements will be donated entirely to The Richmond Project, a charitable initiative he co-founded with his wife, Akshata Murty, in 2023. The organisation focuses on community development and mental health support in their Yorkshire constituency, reflecting Sunak's long-standing commitment to philanthropy amid his family's estimated £650 million fortune, much of it tied to Infosys, the Indian IT giant co-founded by Murty's father. This move aligns with precedents set by predecessors like Tony Blair, who built multimillion-pound consultancies post-Downing Street, though Sunak's roles are framed as non-lobbying advisory positions to avoid conflicts of interest.

Both companies highlighted compliance with the UK's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), the independent body that vets ex-ministers' job offers to prevent undue influence. At Anthropic—valued at $18.4 billion and backed by Amazon and Google—Sunak will offer insights on global strategy, macroeconomic shifts, and geopolitical risks, without engaging UK policymakers or drawing on confidential government data. The role, described as internally orientated, carries a two-year ban on lobbying Whitehall on Anthropic's behalf. Microsoft, meanwhile, has enlisted Sunak for similar counsel on broader trends, including a speaking slot at its annual Future Decoded Summit later this year. ACOBA's interim chair, Isabel Doverty, confirmed in a public letter that the positions pose no risk of impropriety, provided Sunak refrains from using privileged information for two years.

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This development caps a tumultuous year for Sunak, who rose to prominence as chancellor during the COVID-19 pandemic with his £37 billion Test and Trace programme and Eat Out to Help Out scheme, only to face backlash over economic policies amid inflation and strikes. His July return to Goldman Sachs, where he began his career as an analyst in 2001 before stints at hedge funds like The Children's Investment Fund, underscores a pattern of blending financial acumen with public service.

As AI ethics and tech regulation dominate global agendas—issues Sunak championed during his premiership with initiatives like the AI Safety Summit—these roles position him as a bridge between Silicon Valley and Westminster. Neither firm responded immediately to requests for further details, but the appointments signal growing interest in ex-leaders' strategic value amid U.S.-China tech tensions and Europe's push for digital sovereignty.

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