You remember that rain-soaked afternoon in July 2024, right? Rishi Sunak standing outside 10 Downing Street, the sky literally opening up as he announced the end of fourteen years of Tory rule. It was a scene straight out of a tragicomedy. Honestly, it's hard to believe it has been over eighteen months since he handed the keys to Keir Starmer. But as we sit here in early 2026, the legacy of the former PM of UK is looking a lot more complicated than those final, soggy moments suggested.
Most people remember him as the "tech bro" who couldn't quite connect with the average voter. Or maybe the guy who lost a landslide. But if you look closer at what’s happening in British politics right now, Sunak’s fingerprints are everywhere.
The Stabilizer Nobody Asked For
When Sunak took over from Liz Truss in late 2022, the UK economy was basically in a tailspin. People forget how genuinely terrifying those few weeks were. The markets were screaming. Mortgage rates were spiking. He was the "adult in the room," brought in to stop the bleeding.
He did that. He stabilized the ship.
But here is the thing: stability is boring. Voters don’t usually give you a "thank you" vote for preventing a total collapse that they already blame your party for causing. He spent his premiership trying to hit five very specific targets—halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting debt, reducing NHS waiting lists, and "stopping the boats."
Did he actually succeed?
It’s a mixed bag, honestly. Inflation did drop. The economy even showed some surprising growth in early 2024, hitting around 0.7% in the first quarter. But the NHS? The boats? Not so much. Those failures became the loud, clanging bells that drowned out any of his technical wins.
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By the time the 2024 election rolled around, the British public wasn't looking for a spreadsheet manager. They wanted a change of pace. Sunak, for all his polish and Harvard MBA vibes, couldn't shake the image of being a billionaire out of touch with a country struggling to pay for groceries.
Why Rishi Sunak Still Matters in 2026
You’d think a former PM of UK who lost that badly would just vanish into a California sunset. Interestingly, that hasn't happened. While he’s stepped back from the front benches—Kemi Badenoch is running that show now—Sunak is still a Member of Parliament for Richmond and Northallerton.
He’s also gone back to his roots. Recently, he took a gig as a senior advisor at Goldman Sachs. It’s a move that has raised some eyebrows, but it’s classic Rishi. He’s a finance guy at heart.
But his real relevance today lies in the "Sunak-era" policies that Keir Starmer’s Labour government is actually keeping. Take the Windsor Framework, for example. Sunak negotiated that with the EU to fix the mess in Northern Ireland. Even now, in 2026, Labour is leaning on that framework. It turns out, his "boring" technical fixes were actually quite durable.
The Gaza and Ukraine Factor
Sunak's foreign policy legacy is also holding up surprisingly well. He was one of the first major leaders to go all-in on long-term security guarantees for Ukraine. We’re seeing the fruits of that now, as the UK remains a cornerstone of the "Coalition of the Willing" in 2026.
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And then there’s the Middle East. Sunak’s balanced—if often criticized—approach to the Gaza conflict set a precedent for the "pragmatic" stance the UK continues to take today. He wasn't a firebrand. He was a diplomat who preferred the quiet room to the loud podium.
The Myths We Believe About the Former PM of UK
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Sunak was "anti-green." It’s true he pushed back the ban on petrol cars to 2035, which caused a massive stir at the time. He said he didn't want to impose "unacceptable costs" on working families.
Fast forward to today. Starmer is pushing big on wind power, but he’s hitting the same roadblocks Sunak warned about: the sheer cost of infrastructure. Sunak wasn't necessarily a climate skeptic; he was a fiscal skeptic. He hated spending money the Treasury didn't have.
Another myth? That he was "forced" into a July election.
There’s this narrative that he panicked. But insiders will tell you he saw the economic data peaking and thought it was the only window he had. He gambled. He lost. But it wasn't a blind panic; it was a calculated risk that crashed.
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The Shift to the "Board of Peace"
It’s also worth noting how former UK leaders don't just fade away. Look at Tony Blair. Just this week, news broke that Blair joined a "Board of Peace" for Gaza alongside Mark Carney. Sunak hasn't reached that "elder statesman" level yet—he’s still too young—but he’s positioning himself as a global voice on AI and fintech.
Remember the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park? That was Sunak’s baby. In 2026, as AI continues to rewrite the rules of the global economy, that summit looks like one of the smartest things he ever did. He saw the wave coming before almost any other world leader.
What You Can Learn From the Sunak Era
If you’re looking for a takeaway from the time of this former PM of UK, it’s about the limits of competence. You can be the smartest person in the room. You can have the best data. You can even fix the immediate problem.
But if you can't tell a story that people believe in, you're toast.
Sunak was a great manager but a struggling storyteller. He treated the UK like a firm that needed a turnaround, while the public wanted a leader who understood their soul.
Actionable Insights for 2026
- Watch the Goldman Sachs moves: Sunak’s role as an advisor will likely influence how the City of London interacts with the current Labour government.
- Keep an eye on the "Richmond Backbencher": He isn't done with the Commons yet. His contributions to finance and tech legislation are still some of the most influential in the House.
- The AI Legacy: If you're in the tech sector, look back at the Bletchley Declaration. The regulatory frameworks being built today in 2026 are still using the foundations Sunak laid down.
Rishi Sunak’s time in office was short, but it wasn't shallow. He was the bridge between the chaos of the early 2020s and the new political reality we’re living in today. Whether you loved him or hated him, you can't deny he kept the lights on when they were very close to flickering out.