Rishi Sunak to take week-long vacation for first break in four years

Oliver Dowden will be Acting Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak is leaving for a week of family vacation. Credit: Simon Dawson/10 Downing Street

Oliver Dowden will take over as acting prime minister from Thursday, and Rishi Sunak is flying away on a week-long holiday with his family.

Downing Street said it would the Tory leader's first real break in four years since he was appointed chief secretary of the treasury in July 2019.

It was nine months after he took over from Liz Truss and two weeks before the summer recess in the House of Commons, when many MPs decided to reserve some time. away.

His spokesman said he was «trying» to go on holiday to the Spanish island after last year's leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson, which he lost to Ms Truss.

< p>However, he was only there for «about 15 hours» as he was forced to rush back to the UK to commemorate the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Apparently, Mr. Sunak is going abroad for a break, but #10 declined to give details of his destination, citing security concerns.

He will be traveling with his wife, Akshata Murthy, and two daughters, Krishna and Anushka, and will receive «daily updates» from his personal account. office, a spokesman said.

Mr Dowden was named deputy prime minister in April after Dominic Raab stepped down amid allegations of bullying.

He is one of Mr. Sunak's closest allies in politics, who helped him run for the Richmond, Yorkshire seat.

He has replaced his boss several times in Prime Minister's Questions, the last time Mr. Sunak was in Lithuania for a NATO summit.

About plans

The Prime Minister spoke about his plans for the upcoming recess in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph.

“It will my first family vacation in a very long time,” he said.

“So that's what I'm looking forward to. In fact, I enjoy just spending time with my family, because the concept of a family vacation is something that I have not even had the opportunity to enjoy properly abroad for several years.

“So it’s a lot of eating together outside at home, go to the beach, walk, ride a bike and stuff like that. It's just a fun time together — the four of us — which I'm looking forward to.»

This week's vacation could be one of Mr. Sunak's last chances to escape before his unofficial campaign begins in earnest this fall. .

His spokesman told reporters on Monday: “The prime minister will be taking a vacation with his family for the first time since he became chief secretary of the treasury almost four years ago. He will be on vacation for just over a week from Thursday.”

She said Mr. Sunak believes work-life balance is “very important, especially spending time with family.”

>»Not that he's necessarily a good example of what he preaches in practice,» she added.