Rishi Sunak reveals he keeps Jilly Cooper’s racy novel on his nightstand

Rishi Sunak has been making headlines recently, mostly over the Covid inquiry and his Rwanda scheme. He has been mocked for his excuse as to why he couldn’t hand in WhatsApp messages that date from the pandemic period and he has been criticised for the ongoing expense of his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

However, the PM is in the news this month for another unexpected reason: his Christmas reading list has been revealed and it stars some surprise novels. It turns out that Sunak is a fan of Jilly Cooper, queen of the ‘bonkbuster’ genre. Sunak revealed all in a recent interview with The Spectator.

The novel Sunak has on his nightstand

This is not the first time that Sunak has been candid about his love for Cooper’s novels, which are packed with scandals, seduction and sex. Indeed, it was through his earlier confessions to The Spectator that Cooper discovered she had such a fan in the PM. This is why, come Christmas time and the release of her latest novel Tackle!, she sent Sunak a signed copy.

The novel is about an equestrian-turned-football manager who puts together a hodgepodge team that miraculously ends up victorious. The cover reminds its readers: ‘If you want to score, you’ve got to be a player’. Sunak told The Spectator:

It is literally on my bedside table.

This is the first year in a long time that I have actually read some fiction. I read these lovely books, which is good escapism for me.

Scepticism over his love for these racy romps

Some are a little sceptical of the authenticity of these claims; as The Guardian pointed out back in May, Sunak's apparent love for Cooper’s racy romp Riders was yet another in the PM’s long list of unlikely guilty pleasures. These included an apparent love for Michael Bublé’s music and a penchant for sliders. The PM also infamously claimed to enjoy McDonald’s breakfast wraps - almost two and a half years after they had been wiped from the menu.

Many believe he has made these assertions in an effort to appear more relatable. Not a bad tactic for a man who is frequently branded out-of-touch. However, this approach does not seem to have had the desired effect as people have a hard time imagining the PM kicking back in his sliders, chowing down on a McD's wrap and cracking open his latest steamy read.

Read more:

⋙ Rishi Sunak: Here's the one thing he often wears and will desperately need amid Rwanda row

⋙ Rishi Sunak, King Charles and David Cameron are in hot water over Cop28 hypocrisy

⋙ Rishi Sunak's wife earned more than the whole Labour Party this year, here’s how Akshata made her millions

Sources used:

The Spectator: ‘I am working night and day’: Rishi Sunak on Jilly Cooper, immigration – and his plan for the next election

The Spectator: Surprise package: Tackle!, by Jilly Cooper, reviewed

Express: Sunak to dive into Jilly Cooper's latest book for Christmas

The Guardian: Rishi Sunak ‘ranks racy Jilly Cooper novel among his favourite books’