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GRAZIA EXCLUSIVE
Grazia went behind the famous black door of 10 Downing Street, where the PM and his wife discussed how they share the domestic load
AT A TIME WHEN women are affected disproportionately by the cost of living crisis, they are also still taking on the bulk of unpaid ‘invisible labour’ – household chores and caring responsibilities. Women, on average, do 65% of physical housework in heterosexual relationships – the ‘chore gap’ – while the additional burden of the mental load that comes with running a home (organising finances, anticipating needs, making decisions) can seriously damage our mental and physical health. Gender equality starts at home, so, to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, we found out how the country’s most high-profile couple share domestic duties.
In their first ever interview of this kind together, Rishi Sunak is joined by his wife, businesswoman Akshata Murty, to discuss how they juggle it, albeit under phenomenally different circumstances to the rest of us: one of them is running the country and their combined wealth of more than £700m no doubt affords them help. Nevertheless, in election year we’re all keen to discover who our politicians really are, and how they operate at home is a good place to start.
When it comes to mealtimes at Number 10, where the couple live with their two daughters, Krishna, 12, and Anoushka, 11, Murty admits her husband is the more talented cook, but owing to time constraints he sticks to rustling up breakfast on a Saturday morning: Gordon Ramsay’s scrambled eggs is his signature dish.
Meal planning for the week sees Sunak laying out ‘the structure’, which Murty ‘fills in’. She says her husband is keen for the whole family to eat a balanced diet with protein, carbohydrates and vegetables, but he insists no meal actually operates like that unless he’s there. ‘Well, you know, suddenly the homework’s not done and Anoushka’s like, “Oh I just need pasta,” so I have the pasta,’ Murty says.
It’s Sunak who makes the bed. ‘I’m not a morning person,’ Murty protests. ‘But you also just don’t like making the bed and it bugs me,’ Sunak says, adding, ‘I actually sometimes come up back into the flat from the office after we’ve all left to make the bed, because I’ll be irritated if it’s not been made.’
Fights about the dishwasher are also commonplace. Apparently, the PM is best at loading it. ‘Definitely Rishi, but I am “A” for enthusiasm,’ says Murty. ‘But then it requires redoing after you’ve been very “enthusiastic”,’ Sunak jokes.
A bone of contention for many families is which pare
