Akshata Murty will lead Rishi Sunak’s charm offensive in India: How ‘Britain’s Jackie O’ will be deployed to woo world leaders in country where her family is better known than Britain’s PM

On being named Britain’s best dressed woman earlier this year, Rishi Sunak‘s wife Akshata Murty was mentioned in the same breath as the great Jackie O.

The queen of so-called ‘dopamine dressing’ is, according to high society bible Tatler magazine, a ‘shining example’ of ‘diplomatically decadent’ fashion that ‘steals the show’. 

That high praise will do Ms Murty, 43, no harm as she is deployed by her husband to help woo world leaders during their trip to India, where her hugely wealthy family is better known than Mr Sunak himself. 

The PM and his wife were pictured greeting dignitaries after touching down in Delhi today ahead of the G20 summit this weekend.

Beaming in a floral ankle-length skirt and white shirt, Ms Murty showed why she is her husband’s ‘secret weapon’ as she helped him adjust his tie before they stepped out of their plane. 

Mr Sunak mentioned his wife today as he spoke to reporters after arriving in the Indian capital.

He revealed it was his first time returning to India in more than three years.

Mr Sunak, who is a practising Hindu, told reporters: ‘It is obviously special. 

‘I saw somewhere that I was referred to as India’s son-in-law, which I hope was meant affectionately. 

‘I’m excited to be back. It is nice to have Akshata with me as well.’

The Prime Minister and his wife were greeted by traditional dancers and music as they disembarked from their official RAF Voyager plane at Indira Gandhi Airport.

Alex Ellis, the British high commissioner to India, and Indian minister of state Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey were also on the tarmac to welcome the couple.

Mr Sunak will be in India until Sunday, attending G20 sessions and holding talks on the fringes with world leaders.

Ms Murty is always likely to be close by as she deploys her knowledge of her home country. 

The former fashion designer and her brother Rohan were largely raised by their paternal grandparents as her ambitious mother and father pursued careers in engineering and science.

Her father Narayana, who was recently ranked the sixth richest person in India with a an estimated £3.9billion fortune, built his family’s wealth after founding his firm Infosys, which is currently worth around £53billion.

Ms Murty’s mother Sudha became the first female engineer to work for India’s biggest car manufacturer, TELCO.

Child prodigy Rohan started computer coding at the age of eight before studying a PhD at Harvard and becoming a junior fellow at the prestigious university. 

He later joined the family company in 2013, before stepping down amid claims by Infosys employees of nepotism at the time. 

A year later, he founded AI firm Soroco, of which his sister Akshata is listed as a director of its UK arm.

Ms Murty had a passion for fashion from an early age, something which got her into trouble with her mother.

She previously recalled how she was scolded for paying more attention to glamour than she did to her studies.

After finishing school, Akshata moved to the US, where she completed degrees in economics and French at Claremont McKenna College in California and studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA.

She met her future husband after moving to Stanford University to study for an MBA.

Mr Sunak previously told how there was ‘clearly something’ there when he and his wife first met. He went as far as changing some of his classes so he could sit next to his wife.

Four years later, in 2009, they married in a lavish ceremony in Bengaluru in India, which was the couple’s home for the next four years.

Speaking last year about how his wife is different to him, Mr Sunak told The Times:  ‘I’m incredibly tidy, she’s very messy. I’m much more organised, she is more spontaneous… she is not going to love me for saying this but I’ll be honest with you, she is not big on the whole tidying thing. 

‘She is a total nightmare, clothes everywhere… and shoes… oh God, shoes.’

During their early years together, Akshata pursued a career in fashion and set up her own business in 2007, Akshata Designs. 

It was centred around the celebration of Indian culture and focused on discovering artists in remote villages.

‘I’m about the story behind a particular garment, it’s authenticity, craftsmanship and protecting a rich heritage,’ she told Vogue. 

‘I care about doing something in India, for India because it’s part of our family’s DNA.’

However, her business venture fell flat and collapsed after just three years.

Nonetheless, the mother of two has continued to hold stakes in businesses over the years, the most significant of which is her estimated £430million holding in Infosys.

She and Mr Sunak also set up a project together, Catamaran Ventures UK. 

Ms Murty has also been linked to Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria and Etonian tailor, New & Lingwood.

Earlier this year Mr Sunak apologised for breaking the MPs’ Code of Conduct by failing to correctly declare his wife’s financial interest in a childminding company that benefited from changes made in the Budget.

Commons’ Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg opened the inquiry in April following concerns that Mr Sunak did not detail his wife’s shares in a childcare Koru Kids.

He concluded the breach arose out of the Prime Minister’s ‘confusion’ around the rules on declaration, and decided to close the inquiry without the need for further action after finding the error to have been made inadvertently.

Eventually Rishi and Akshata moved to the UK in 2013, where Rishi became MP for Richmond in Yorkshire two years later.

The couple now live in a £7 million townhouse in Kensington with their daughters, which is just one of several properties they own.

As well as the townhouse, they also enjoy a £1million flat in Kensington and a £2million mansion in Rishi’s Yorkshire constituency, where he is nicknamed the ‘Maharaja of the Dales’. 

They also have a £5.5million penthouse in California, overlooking Santa Monica pier, which they use in the holidays.

Earlier this year she made headlines for her non-domicile (‘non-dom’) tax status, which is a legal but controversial way to avoid paying taxes in Britain on overseas income. 

The status is often used by the super-wealthy to save thousands or even millions of pounds in tax.

Amid an intense public backlash, Ms Murty gave up the non-dom status and promised to pay tax in the UK on the fortunes she brought in from around the world.

A statement read: ‘It has become clear that many do not feel it is compatible with my husband’s role as Chancellor.

‘I understand and appreciate the British sense of fairness and I do not wish my tax status to be a distraction for my husband or to affect my family.

‘This means I will now pay UK tax on an arising basis on all my worldwide income, including dividends and capital gains, wherever in the world that income arises. 

‘I do this because I want to, not because the rules require me to.’

As well as her tax status, the mother of two has also raised eyebrows with her wardrobe, after stepping out on occasion in outfits worth thousands of pounds.

In December 2020, the IT heiress wore a box-fresh pair of £445 Gucci trainers, a REDValentino shearling and leather coat costing £1,630 and a leather skirt worth more then £1,000, for a date night with her husband in upmarket Mayfair.

However, during Mr Sunak’s first leadership campaign in the summer of 2022 – in which he lost out to Liz Truss – Ms Murty stepped out in a High-Street outfit at a campaign event for her husband.

She donned a £165 dress by high street label Club Monaco for the outing to Margaret Thatcher’s hometown of Grantham.

After naming her as Britain’s best dressed woman in early August, Tatler style editor Chandler Tregaskes said: ‘Her stream of “It” ensembles would have given Jackie Kennedy a run for her money…

‘Mrs Sunak is a shining example of modern-day diplomatically decadent dressing that steals the show.’

She displayed her prowess for ‘dopamine dressing’ – where you wear bright colours to radiate positivity and boost your mood – earlier this year when she joined her husband on his trip to Japan. 

She wowed in a £95 fuchsia cashmere sweater from Chinti & Parker, and £165 island green trousers from ME+EM.

Ms Murty may have had style advice from Isabel Spearman, the PR guru who previously worked as an unofficial dresser to Samantha Cameron during her husband’s tenure in Downing Street.

The brand consultant was spotted heading into No 10 just days before the King’s Coronation in May, for which the Prime Minister’s wife wore a £495 baby blue dress from Claire Mischevani that one commentator praised as ‘incredible’.