Rishi Potter! PM Sunak tells This Morning he charmed wife Akshata Murty at a US Halloween party while he was dressed as JK Rowling's boy wizard and she as a girl guide
- PM said they went to a US Hallowe'en party together after meeting at Stanford
Rishi Sunak wooed his future wife Akshata Murty while dressed as Harry Potter, he revealed today.
The Prime Minister said their first party together had been a Hallowe'en bash in the United States, where they met while students at Stanford University.
He told ITV's This Morning that he had gone dressed as JK Rowling's boy wizard, while his then girlfriend - who made a surprise speech at this week's Tory conference - had been dressed as a girl guide.
It was a lighthearted moment in an interview in which he faced questions over the fallout from this week's event in Manchester .
He defended his plan to introduce a rolling ban on smoking and tougher rules on vapes, saying he made them as a parent with two young daughters.
And he again refused to endorse controversial remarks by Home Secretary Suella Braverman about Britain facing a 'hurricane' of mass immigration.
![The Prime Minister said they had gone to a Hallowe'en party together in the United States after meeting at Stanford University.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/06/11/76244097-12601787-image-a-14_1696589467638.jpg)
The Prime Minister said they had gone to a Hallowe'en party together in the United States after meeting at Stanford University.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/06/12/76246063-12601787-image-a-2_1696593001419.jpg)
![He told ITV's This Morning that he had gone dressed as JK Rowling's boy wizard (artists impression, above), while his then girlfriend - who made a surprise speech at this week's Tory conference - had been dressed as a girl guide.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/06/15/76250967-12601787-image-a-1_1696601970126.jpg)
He told ITV's This Morning that he had gone dressed as JK Rowling's boy wizard (artists impression, above), while his then girlfriend - who made a surprise speech at this week's Tory conference - had been dressed as a girl guide.
![He praised his wife's speech at the conference, joking he thought he could 'call it a day' after watching her work her magic on the hall. wife's surprise address at the Conservative Party conference.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/06/12/76159521-12601787-He_praised_his_wife_s_speech_at_the_conference_joking_he_thought-a-1_1696592994878.jpg)
He praised his wife's speech at the conference, joking he thought he could 'call it a day' after watching her work her magic on the hall. wife's surprise address at the Conservative Party conference.
He praised his wife's speech at the conference, joking he thought he could 'call it a day' after watching her work her magic on the hall. wife's surprise address at the Conservative Party conference.
'It was kept secret from me until very late on, so I only knew really very late on that she was doing anything and the first time I heard her was when I was standing behind the stage ready to come on,' he said.
'It was very lovely, it was also just a big day for me. I was making a big speech, I was making these three big announcements on HS2, smoking and changing our education system, so a big moment for me to have her there to support me and it was really nice before I went on.'
In a later quickfire round, asked about his favourite Hallowe'en costume, he revealed: 'The first time Akshata and I went to a party together it was a Hallowe'en party when we were in the states and she went as a girl guide and I went as Harry Potter.'
But he was totally serious when he defended the plan to ban smoking in a plan similar to that brought in by New Zealand.
![Mr Sunak spoke of his daughters Krishna and Anoushka as he defended the plan, saying: 'There is no safe level of smoking. It is highly addictive, it is one of the leading preventable causes of death, disease and illness in or society.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/10/06/12/76245097-12601787-image-a-18_1696590542550.jpg)
Mr Sunak spoke of his daughters Krishna and Anoushka as he defended the plan, saying: 'There is no safe level of smoking. It is highly addictive, it is one of the leading preventable causes of death, disease and illness in or society.'
It would see the current age limit of 18 rise by a year every 12 months and would mean anyone aged 14 or younger now will never be old enough to legally purchase tobacco.
Health groups and cancer charities lauded the announcement and said it would save thousands of lives from cancer.
But politicians including Liz Truss and libertarian think tanks branded it 'hideously illiberal and unconservative'.
Mr Sunak spoke of his daughters Krishna and Anoushka as he defended the plan, saying: 'There is no safe level of smoking. It is highly addictive, it is one of the leading preventable causes of death, disease and illness in or society.
'I thought about this as a parent. Any parent, even those who smoke, if you ask them ''do you want your kids to grow up to smoke?'' - ''obviously not'' is the answer.
'One-in-four cancer deaths is caused by smoking, I have a chance as PM to do something about that.'
He agreed multiculturalism has not failed as he was challenged over remarks made by Mrs Braverman.
Asked if he was embarrassed or ashamed when he heard her talk about a 'hurricane' of mass migration, Mr Sunak said he thinks the 'debate gets charged a lot' before saying: 'If you just take a step back, what do I think we all agree on? We all agree that Britain is an incredibly welcoming place.
'We're all living proof of the fact that immigrants can come here, do well and that's something I think we do better than any country in the world.'
Told the UK has not failed in any way, Mr Sunak replied: 'No, no, I think it's something we should be so proud of as Brits, it's something that we do better than anyone else.
'But I think we also agree a couple of other things - when people do come here they should integrate, they should sign up to British values so we have that shared understanding amongst us.'
He added: 'I think we also all agree that it should be us who decides who comes here, not criminal gangs.
'Illegal migration isn't right, not least because people are being exploited and die when they make these crossings, but also because we're a compassionate country who wants to welcome people here, we're not going to be able to do that if our system is overloaded with people who have jumped the queue, and that's why I want to be able to stop the boats.'
During the quickfire round, Mr Sunak said he preferred Oppenheimer as a film but 'loved going to Barbie because we went as a family', chose Taylor Swift over Britney Spears 'unless I'm on my Peloton and my instructor there loves Britney Spears', and noted he once dressed as Harry Potter when attending a Halloween Party with his wife.
He also chose Big Brother over I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here before adding: 'Actually the Netflix Beckham documentary right now, I've started watching that, I saved it for after conference, it is absolutely brilliant, reliving my childhood.'