It feels like a lifetime ago that Rishi Sunak stood outside 10 Downing Street in the pouring rain, announcing a summer election that almost nobody saw coming. Seriously, remember that? The drenched suit, the podium, the suddenness of it all. Since July 2024, the UK has moved into the Keir Starmer era, but the ghost of the previous Prime Minister of the UK still lingers in the policy debates and the "what if" conversations happening in Westminster today.
Sunak’s departure marked the end of 14 years of Conservative rule. It wasn’t just a change of face; it was a total vibe shift for the country. Honestly, looking back, his 20-month stint was a frantic attempt to bring "boring" stability after the chaos of the Truss and Johnson months. He was the technocrat in the skinny suit trying to fix a spreadsheet that was fundamentally broken.
The Reality Check on the Rishi Sunak Era
People often forget how Sunak actually got the job. He didn't win a general election to become PM; he was the last man standing after Liz Truss’s "mini-budget" sent the pound into a tailspin. His main pitch was competence. He wanted to be the guy who balanced the books and stopped the drama.
But the "previous Prime Minister of the UK" found out pretty quickly that being a billionaire former hedge fund manager is a tough sell when people can't afford their weekly shop. He focused on his "Five Pledges"—halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists, and "stopping the boats."
How did that go?
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Inflation did eventually drop, though economists argue that was more about global energy prices cooling than anything done in Number 10. The rest? A mixed bag, to put it politely. Waiting lists stayed stubbornly high, and the Rwanda plan—his flagship immigration policy—became a legal and financial quagmire that Starmer scrapped almost the second he walked through the door.
The Silicon Valley Exit
If you're wondering what a former PM does after losing 251 seats in a single night, the answer is: they go back to big tech.
By late 2025, Sunak had basically checked out of the day-to-day grind of being an MP for Richmond and Northallerton, despite still holding the seat. The rumors were true. He landed high-profile roles at Microsoft and the AI giant Anthropic. It makes sense. Sunak was always more at home talking about "frontier AI" at Bletchley Park than he was talking to voters in a rainy marketplace.
He’s also been spotted on the global speaking circuit. We're talking £150,000 per speech. It’s a lucrative gig if you can get it. Interestingly, he’s reportedly donating his salary from these tech roles to his wife’s numeracy charity. It's a savvy move that helps deflect some of the "out of touch" criticism that dogged his premiership.
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Why the Previous Prime Minister of the UK Still Matters
You might think that once a PM is out, they’re irrelevant. That's not how British politics works. The decisions Sunak made—especially regarding the freezing of tax thresholds—are still being felt in every single paycheck in 2026.
The Labour government has spent the last year blaming a "£22 billion black hole" on the previous administration. Whether you believe that figure or see it as political theatre, it has given Starmer the cover to raise taxes in ways that would have been unthinkable during the election campaign.
Sunak’s legacy is effectively the "fiscal straightjacket" that the current government is wearing.
- The Debt Legacy: Interest payments on the national debt remain a massive chunk of the budget.
- Infrastructure: The decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 is still a sore spot for northern mayors.
- Defense: His commitment to 2.5% of GDP on defense spending by 2030 set a benchmark that the new government has struggled to match without cutting elsewhere.
The Human Element
Honestly, Sunak always seemed like he was doing a job he was overqualified for but wasn't particularly "wired" for. He was a professional. A neat-freak. A man who probably has a color-coded spreadsheet for his breakfast options.
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In contrast, the UK public often wants a leader who feels a bit more "human" and a bit less "AI-generated." His struggle to connect with the working class wasn't just about his wealth; it was about the polished, almost robotic way he communicated.
Lessons for the Future
What can we actually learn from the Sunak years? First, that technocracy has a ceiling. You can't just manage a country's way out of a cost-of-living crisis with smart tweaks and PowerPoint slides. People need to feel like you're in the trenches with them.
Second, the "previous Prime Minister of the UK" showed that the Conservative party was deeply divided. He spent more time fighting his own backbenchers over the Rwanda Bill than he did fighting the opposition. It’s a cautionary tale for Keir Starmer: a large majority doesn't mean your own party won't turn on you when the polling gets tough.
If you want to understand where the UK is headed in 2026, you have to look at the wreckage of 2024. The shift toward "Great British Energy" and the renationalization of railways is a direct rejection of the Sunak doctrine of private-sector-first growth.
Your Next Steps:
- Audit your taxes: Check how the continued "fiscal drag"—a policy started by Sunak and maintained by the current government—is affecting your take-home pay as tax thresholds remain frozen.
- Monitor the tech sector: Watch Sunak’s influence in the AI regulatory space; his new roles at Microsoft and Anthropic suggest he will still be shaping the rules of the digital world from the private sector.
- Review the 2024 Manifesto: Re-read the "Change" manifesto to see which of the promised breaks from the previous administration's policies have actually been delivered 18 months later.
The Sunak era was short, but its fingerprints are all over the current economic landscape. Understanding his "smart" but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to save the Tory party explains why the UK is currently taking such a different, and much more interventionist, path.