It is a nice coincidence that Rishi Sunak has won the leadership of the Conservative Party, and hence the prime ministership, on the most important day of Diwali, the "festival of light” celebrated by Hindus, along with Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists.
Diwali supposedly marks the triumph of "light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance.” It is also associated with wealth and prosperity. In February 2020, Sunak took his oath of office as chancellor of the exchequer holding a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and celebrated Diwali by putting lights outside his official residence at No. 11 Downing Street. He is now the first Hindu to become U.K. prime minister. His time in office will hinge on his ability to deliver a reasonable measure of prosperity to a country that is in dire economic straits.
Sunak has a fighting chance of restoring order to the Conservative Party and the U.K. government. Certainly better than Penny Mordaunt, who dropped out of the race at the very last moment. While popular, she is relatively inexperienced, having only served for a few months in the Cabinet as defense secretary. We don’t have to recite the resume of Boris Johnson, a one-man wrecking ball. Perfectly turned out in a suit and narrow tie, Sunak cuts a commanding presence compared to Johnson. Fitting the two men into Max Weber’s equation, Sunak is "ethic of responsibility” made flesh while Johnson is his "ethic of irresponsibility.”