Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to join Microsoft and AI company Anthropic in advisory roles

New Delhi:

Britain's former prime minister Rishi Sunak has been cleared by a UK government watchdog to take on part-time, paid advisory roles with US-based tech giant Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic. Sunak, who now serves as a backbench Conservative Party MP for Richmond and Northallerton, had sought approval from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACoBA) under the government's "Business Appointment Rules for Former Ministers". The committee published its decision on Thursday.

Watchdog imposes conditions

ACoBA acknowledged the risks associated with Sunak’s previous high office, noting his access to "high-level sensitive information" across virtually all government matters and his "extensive industry engagement" with the tech and AI sectors while in office.

The committee's approval comes with strict conditions:

• Sunak must not draw on any “privileged information” acquired during his time in the prime ministerial office.
• He is constrained from lobbying the UK government on behalf of either Microsoft or Anthropic for a period of at least two years.

ACoBA noted that while the risks associated with his access to information are "somewhat limited due to the passage of time," it is likely he will still be perceived as having "privileged insight". Consequently, a condition was imposed to limit his role and reduce potential risks under government rules.

Sunak's rationale and charitable pledge

Sunak stated that all proceeds from his new advisory roles will be donated to The Richmond Project, an education charity he founded with his wife, Akshata Murty, which focuses on tackling numeracy issues among children in the UK.

Explaining his decision to return to the tech sector, the British Indian politician emphasised his belief in the sector's transformative power:

"I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future... In my role as a senior adviser, I want to help these companies ensure that this shift delivers the improvements in all of our lives that it can”.

Career context

The new appointments follow Sunak's earlier re-entry into the banking world, where he was announced as a Senior Adviser at the Goldman Sachs Group in July. Sunak previously worked at Goldman Sachs as an analyst (2001–2004) after serving as a summer intern in 2000.

Sunak, 45, began his political career when he was elected a Tory MP in 2015, rising to become Chancellor of the Exchequer before serving as Britain's first prime minister of Indian heritage from October 2022 until the Tories lost the general election in July 2024. He subsequently moved to the backbenches of Parliament.

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