PM Or Professor? Rishi Sunak At NDTV World Summit On What Next For Him

Britain's former prime minister Rishi Sunak shared his plans on life after politics - is it going to be more politics, a second try at becoming prime minister, or moving on with teaching and consulting.

At the NDTV World Summit 2025 in Delhi, Sunak said he loves spending more time with his two young daughters who he missed seeing much over the last five years.

"My parents were unhappy that I was not Dr Sunak, so I think they would be much happier with professor Sunak next, if there was an option," the former prime minister said.

"But I want to keep being useful and productive, and what I hope is I can draw on my experience in government, my experience of business and technology, to keep making a contribution to some of the things that we've been talking about," he said.

"... I hope I can draw on my experience to make constructive contributions to how we tackle some of those challenges to move our countries and societies forward. I've gone back to do public policy work at Oxford University and Stanford University, both where I studied.

"And I have to say it's much better being at university when you don't have exams, so I'm enjoying that incredibly. But actually, I'm getting to spend a lot more time at home in North Yorkshire, watching cricket. The thing I haven't really mentioned, the thing I'm loving more than anything is spending time with our two young daughters, who I've missed seeing much over the last five years, but actually now getting time with them, it's a real joy," Sunak said.

He added, "So, you know, long may that continue until they get bored of me and want to go off and become teenagers."

Watch #LIVE | Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) speaks to NDTV's @rahulkanwal, @VishnuNDTV, and @PadmajaJoshi, on 'Navigating the Unknown: Policy, Power, Perspective' https://t.co/3nW6D0AZHy

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 17, 2025

In January, the former prime minister said he would join the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government as a member of its World Leaders Circle, and also take a visiting fellowship at the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California.

Sunak recently announced he has joined US tech giant Microsoft and AI startup Anthropic as a senior adviser. In a LinkedIn post, he said the proceeds from the roles will be donated in full to The Richmond Project, a charity he started with his wife Akshata Murty.

Sunak will advise Anthropic on strategy, macroeconomic and geopolitical trends. The role focuses on global strategic matters, not UK-specific policy, and he is prohibited from initiating contact with UK government officials on behalf of Anthropic.

About NDTV World Summit 2025

NDTV World Summit 2025 is centred around the theme 'Edge of the Unknown: Risk. Resolve. Renewal.' The two-day gathering is an invitation to venture beyond boundaries and borders - to explore the unfamiliar in pursuit of a more conscious, collective future.

The 2025 edition of the NDTV World Summit brings together an extraordinary gathering of minds - heads of state, cultural icons, business architects, innovators, and voices of moral imagination to engage in a new kind of dialogue. One rooted in courageous questioning, in thoughtful exploration of what it means to navigate complexity with clarity and conscience.