Rishi Sunak: UK police fine PM for not wearing seat belt
January 20, 2023
Lancashire police have asked a "42-year-old man from London" to pay a small fine for a social media video in which he is not wearing a seat belt. They were referring to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Rishi Sunak has apologized for making an 'error of judgment' while recording a message for InstagramImage: SUNAK VIA INSTAGRAM via REUTERS
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British police issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a fine on Friday evening for riding in a car without a seat belt in a video clip that Sunak's team had published on social media.
Sunak's spokesperson had apologized the previous day for a "brief error of judgment" after people had noticed and criticized the indiscretion published on Sunak's Instagram account.
Wearing a seat belt in cars is mandatory in almost all circumstances in the UK, also in the back seats. Sunak's spokesperson said the prime minister had only removed the belt for the purposes of recording the video, in which he can be seen twisting towards the camera.
Police from the county of Lancashire in northwest England, where Sunak's car was at the time, did not name the prime minister in their initial announcement, although they gave his age and place of residence.
"Following the circulation of a video on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire we have today (Friday, Jan 20) issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of a fixed penalty," police said.
The conditional offer of a fixed penalty phrasing means that the individual fined has an offer to pay and implicitly accept guilt within 28 days, but as a trade-off they pay much less than the maximum fine and do not risk going court to answer the case. It tends to be the standard penalty issued in such cases.
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Sunak 'will of course comply' with penalty
Sunak was fined 50 pounds (around €57 or $62), one tenth of the theoretical maximum fee for not wearing a seat belt if taking the case to court.
Soon after, Sunak's office said in a statement that "the prime minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologized. He will of course comply with the fixed penalty."
The case had prompted criticism from opposition politicians, with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner calling Sunak "a total liability."
But a Conservative MP from Lancashire, Scott Benton, said he was "sure" that Lancashire police's "time is better spent investigating serious crime which impacts on my constituents." He called the complaints politically motivated.
Sunak was also one of roughly 50 people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who received a fixed penalty notice last April for attending a birthday party for Johnson at 10 Downing Street in June 2020, in defiance of the government's own rules on social distancing during the COVID pandemic. This "partygate" scandal and others helped set the wheels in motion that ultimately led to Johnson's resignation last July.
Recent British prime ministers
Rishi Sunak became the UK's third prime minister in two months in 2022. He followed Liz Truss, who stepped down just six weeks after she was appointed.
Image: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/dpa
Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, promising to unite the Conservative Party in the wake of Liz Truss' policy failures. The 42-year-old became the country's youngest prime minister in more than a century and the first nonwhite leader.
Image: Aberto Pezzali/AP/picture alliance
Liz Truss (2022)
Liz Truss announced her resignation as prime minister after just 45 days in office, a new record. The outgoing head of government said her premiership began "at a time of great economic and international instability," referring to soaring inflation, a global energy crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Image: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Boris Johnson (2019-2022)
Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July. His premiership was toppled following a number of scandals and the resignation of 50 lawmakers from within his own party. Johnson's government oversaw the UK's withdrawal from the European Union in 2020.
Image: Frank Augstein/AP Photo/picture alliance
Theresa May (2016-2019)
Theresa May replaced David Cameron following the 2016 Brexit referendum and began negotiating the withdrawal from the EU. She resigned after lawmakers rejected three separate withdrawal bills she had put to Parliament, with hard-line Brexit supporters in her own party arguing it gave too many concessions to Brussels.
Image: TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images
David Cameron (2010-2016)
David Cameron brought the Conservatives back to power in 2010, first in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Cameron's party won a slim majority in its own right in 2015 — but with that came pressure to follow up on his promise to hold an "in-out" referendum on EU membership. Cameron ultimately campaigned for the "remain" side and resigned the day after the vote, when roughly 52% backed "leave."
Image: Matt Dunham/AP Photo/picture alliance
Gordon Brown (2007-2010)
Gordon Brown is a rare breed in British politics, a prime minister who left office as the result of an election defeat, not resignation or insurrection within his own party. Brown took over after Tony Blair's resignation in 2007 in the wake of the Iraq war, and with the financial crash about to hit. He lost power in the 2010 election, ending a 13-year period of Labour government in Britain.
Image: Jane Barlow/dpa/PA/AP/picture alliance
Tony Blair (1997-2007)
Tony Blair won three elections and is the only Labour Party politician who can claim to have won in almost half a century. Running on a more centrist platform he dubbed "New Labour," Blair won a landslide in 1997 and saw his support gradually wane during a decade in power. The war in Iraq had arguably the biggest negative impact on his support and legacy.
Image: Gretel Ensignia/AP Photo/picture alliance
John Major (1990-1997)
John Major took office as prime minister following the resignation of Margaret Thatcher, who had been in power for nearly 12 years. His government had to grapple with a major economic crisis and rebellions by anti-EU lawmakers from within the Conservative Party.
Image: Mary Evans Picture Library/picture alliance
Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)
All three female British prime ministers hailed from the Conservative Party, although neither Theresa May nor Liz Truss could claim the longevity and electoral success of the first, Margaret Thatcher. Truss modeled herself on Thatcher quite consciously before becoming prime minister, posing in similar situations and wearing similar clothing to the prime minister of her youth.
