His critics wrote him off as a youthful baby chino (chancellor in name only) when he took over the Treasury in January.
But Rishi Sunak, 39, won praise from the man he replaced today for delivering the Budget after just weeks in the top job.
Sajid Javid praised his successor after this afternoon’s fiscal showcase, saying he has ‘risen to the challenge’ despite only taking over in February.
Although widely tipped as a future chancellor, Mr Sunak, 39, was parachuted into the role after Mr Javid quit after losing a Downing Street power struggle with Boris Johnson’s powerful chief aide Dominic Cummings.
Bromsgrove MP Mr Javid, who quit rather than fire his own aides, was on the backbenches this afternoon.
He praised Mr Sunak for being ‘absolutely right to focus his attention on the threat posed by the coronavirus’.
‘He had only four weeks to write this Budget and he has risen to the challenge,’ he added.
‘Although I do recognise much of it, it is different in one significant respect – there has been a dramatic change, as he set out, in the global economy, and this means we have to, of course, face these challenges as a nation,’ he said.
Bromsgrove MP Mr Javid, who quit rather than fire his own aides, was on the backbenches this afternoon alongside Andrea Leadsom, who was also axed in February’s reshuffle
Although widely tipped as a future chancellor, Mr Sunak, 39, was parachuted into the role after Mr Javid quit after losing a Downing Street power struggle with Boris Johnson’s powerful chief aide Dominic Cummings
Rishi Sunak, 39, (left, outside No 11) won praise from the man he replaced today for delivering the Budget after just weeks in the top job
Sajid Javid praised his successor after this afternoon’s fiscal showcase, saying he has ‘risen to the challenge’ despite only taking over in February.
The staunch Brexiteer was promoted to Boris Johnson’s Cabinet after the dramatic reshuffle in July and took over the top job in January.
Sunak’s rise to the top
Rishi Sunak, a GP’s son who married an Indian tech billionaire’s daughter and built a multi million-pound fortune that saw him dubbed the ‘Maharaja of the Dales’, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become Chancellor at the age of just 39.
A graduate of £42,000-per-year Winchester College and Oxford University, where he studied PPE, he is believed to be one of the richest members of Parliament, and lives with his family in a magnificent Georgian manor house in the small village of Kirby Sigston, just outside Northallerton in North Yorkshire.
His Instagram account depicts a sport-loving family man who dotes on the two daughters he shares with his wife, Akshata Murthy, whose father NR Narayana Murthy is India’s sixth-wealthiest man thanks to his ownership of multinational business technology giant Infosys.
A multi-millionaire in his own right thanks to his investment career, Mr Sunak was known to be close to his former boss Sajid Javid, with the pair joining each other on nights out and sharing Star Wars jokes on Twitter.
And although he has taken the job at Number 11 thanks to the bombshell departure of his former mentor, few at Westminster doubted he would reach the top in the end.
Mr Sunak has experienced a dizzying rise since taking William Hague’s Yorkshire seat of Richmond at the 2015 general election, which is when he first acquired his ‘Maharaja of the Dales’ moniker.
Akshata herself runs fashion label Akshata Designs and is also a director of a venture capital firm founded by her father in 2010. Her shareholding in Infosys alone is estimated at £185million.
Mr Javid, who became chancellor last summer, refused to sack his own staff and replace them with No 10 yes men and women and walked out, paving the way for Mr Sunak to take over.
There was speculation that he would postpone the Budget to give himself more time to get his feet under the table.
But he decided not to and went ahead this afternoon to rave reviews from his colleagues.
Conservative former prime minister Theresa May commended him for the ‘difficult’ Budget he had to deliver, adding: ‘I trust in the discussions that were held prior to the delivery of the Budget that there was the necessary tension between No 10 and the Treasury in developing this Budget.
‘Generally speaking, prime ministers want to spend money and chancellors want to manage the public finances prudently.’
Mr Javid, who was sat behind Mrs May, could be heard joking: ‘So true.’
But he also warned the Government not to forget the importance of the fiscal rules laid out in the Conservative manifesto.
The Bromsgrove MP said the rules ‘help us keep our economy strong, help us to keep taxes low and they preserve our flexibility for when we need it most’.
Congratulating his replacement Rishi Sunak on completing his first Budget, Mr Javid urged the new Chancellor to ‘stand ready to do more’ as coronavirus continues to spread.
He added that he has ‘every faith’ that the Prime Minister and Mr Sunak will ‘do the right thing and that whatever happens as a country we will emerge stronger on the other side’.
He also proposed a temporary cut in employers’ national insurance, to help relieve the impact of coronavirus on workers and the economy.
Responding to the Budget, Mr Javid said the UK is ‘facing the most severe threat to our economy since the global financial crisis’.
He also warned that the Government must ‘get on to the front foot to support the financially vulnerable, who will be as fearful for their economic security as they are for their health’.
Not unexpectedly, other Tory MPs praised the Budget, including Andy Carter, who represents Warrington South.
He said: ‘Great Budget from Chancellor Rishi Sunak gettting the balance right, levelling up and protecting our country from the coronavirus threat.
‘Very pleased to hear big steps to support small business sector.’
There was also some mock praise from Labour benches, with many Corbynistas trying to claim the increase in spending was a result of its own policies.
They also claimed it vindicated Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto, despite the party suffering its worst election defeat in 80 years in December.
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, who is running to be the Labour deputy leader, said: When I entered parliament in 2015, only a few MPs were prepared to speak out against austerity.
‘Today, though we’re still a long way from reversing a decade of cruel Tory cuts, no one backs austerity.
‘That’s what was meant when it was said Jeremy won the argument. He did.’
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says the national debt will crest the £2trillion mark in 2024-25
But more serious members of the party backed some measures.
Dame Margaret Hodge tweeted: Increased funding for HMRC & Companies House is long-overdue.
‘Hopefully it leads to better enforcement against tax avoidance & money laundering.
‘A stamp duty surcharge for overseas buyers of properties and the economic crime levy are novel ideas. Only time will tell if they work
‘Pleasantly surprised there’s a new strategy for tackling the promoters of tax avoidance schemes.
‘I’ve long called for new measures to crack down on the shady world of the promoters!
‘However I’m not so sure that our Chancellor’s City mates would meet these more stringent rules…’