Rishi Sunak bags new role with The Sunday Times

The former prime minister will engage in a ‘weekly conversation with readers’

Rishi Sunak is becoming a weekly columnist for The Sunday Times, expressing his desire to engage in “a weekly conversation with readers”.

The former Conservative prime minister, who currently serves as the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, will contribute to the newspaper's business section.

His column is set to cover a range of subjects including technology, politics, and the economy.

It will appear in both print and digital editions from this weekend.

“As a long-time reader of The Sunday Times business pages, I’m honoured to be joining a great team as a columnist,” Mr Sunak said.

“In an era of profound change, I’m really looking forward to a weekly conversation with readers about the forces reshaping the world economy, from global politics to technology.”

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak (PA Archive)

Ben Taylor, the editor of The Sunday Times, added: “I am delighted to welcome such an illustrious and respected figure to the team.

“Rishi’s vast expertise and brilliant mind will help readers navigate what is an increasingly challenging and complex business landscape.

“His experience is unrivalled – on the world stage and in government – and we feel confident that he will be ‘appointment to read’ every weekend.”

Mr Sunak’s fee will be paid to The Richmond Project, an education charity founded by the former prime minister and his wife Akshata Murty.

Rishi Sunak with his wife Akshata Murty (PA Wire)

It seeks to transform young lives through the power of improved numeracy.

His new role as a columnist has been cleared by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which provides advice for ministers and senior civil servants on taking up appointments after leaving office.

In January, Mr Sunak announced he was taking up two new jobs in the UK and America.

He said he would be joining Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government as a member of its World Leaders Circle.

He also took up a visiting fellowship at the Hoover Institution, a think thank based at Stanford University in California, where he first met his wife.