The year 2022 had an unprecedented gift for me. I, along with most of Britain, discovered that Rishi Sunak, the U.K.’s new prime minister, was short.
It felt like there were almost as many articles about Sunak’s height as about his economic plans and his wealth. For the record he is 5’6” or 5’7” depending on which media house you trust.
As a short man myself, I was delighted. Not just because of Sunak but because all the discussion about his height led to the revelation that these days the world is full of little Napoleons. The odd thing is, in reality, Napoleon was apparently two inches taller than the average French man.
(L to R) Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, former German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Emmanuel Macron and Russian president Vladimir Putin during a 2019 summit on Ukraine at Elysee Palace in Paris, France. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Sunak is the shortest male occupant of 10 Downing Street since Winston Churchill (and Churchill loomed so large I didn’t realise he was even shorter than Sunak). But thanks to Sunak, I discovered last year that France’s Emmanuel Macron is only 5’7” , Germany’s Olaf Scholz is 5’5”, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is 5’6” as is Russia’s Vladimir Putin (though many reports add or subtract an inch). Brazil’s Lula da Silva towers at 5’4”.
It does not mean the short have finally inherited the earth. Sunak has been mocked for using a footstool behind a lectern to add inches or standing on the top of the staircase in a group photo.
Sunak and King Charles
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (far left) walks alongside Charles III in London, May 2022. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
An article in the British GQ magazine on Sunak opened with the line, “The identity of our next prime minister was announced by a footstool.” Entire articles were devoted to how Sunak and King Charles appeared to be almost the same height in a photo even though the king is supposed to be at least 8 cm taller than the prime minister.
The rise of Sunak could in some ways have heralded a more level-playing field for all of us. But the international surprise over his height showed how far we still have to go. The problem, as Imogen West-Knights pointed out in that GQ essay, is not that Sunak is short but that he refuses to own it. Macron and Zelensky wear their height with pride. Not Sunak. “I remember finding out how tall Sunak is, and feeling shocked, perhaps even betrayed,” writes West-Knights. “How could it be that I did not know that Sunak, one of the most visible people in the country during the pandemic, was short? Because he didn’t want us to know it.”
While others have mocked Sunak for going to great lengths to create a perception of greater height, I can empathise to some extent. As a child of reasonably tall parents, I had to constantly face the question: “How come you turned out short?” As a teenager, I sent some of my hard-earned money to some post box in Karol Bagh, New Delhi, because I saw an ad for a foolproof kit that promised to help me grow taller.
It turned out to be a shoddily cyclostyled booklet with exercises that told me to hang from bars in the house. It didn’t work an inch. I resigned myself to always being put in the first row for the class photograph in school. One year, I did graduate to the second row but it was short-lived. Next year, I was back in the first row with the other small fry.
Dealing with ‘heightism’
India is not a country known for its height. But it’s inching up. The average male height used to be 5’6”. In 2020, the National Institute of Nutrition raised it to 5’8”. We all live in a world where height matters, a world that grapples with what sociologist Saul Feldman calls “heightism”. During the U.S. presidential elections, the taller man usually won until George W. Bush fended off John Kerry, and then Joe Biden at just over 5’11” beat Donald Trump who is 6’3”. That might have been what really rankled Trump.
Former President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, in New Delhi, 2012. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Indian politics doesn’t place such premium on height. Pranab Mukherjee reached the highest office despite a diminutive stature. But the bias that favours height still remains. I just accepted the fact that as a short man, I’d have to do that much more to be noticed in the world. Though an editor pointed out, as a journalist it’s better to not be too imposing. You can be unassuming and fade into the background more easily. And get more leg room in the economy class.
In this new year, I hope Sunak grows into his height (or lack thereof). As he grapples with a Britain in crisis, he will understand that there are more important ways to get people to look up to him than by standing at the top of the staircase. But he will also have to remember that just because you are 5’6”, it does not mean you will never need to stoop to conquer.
The writer is the author of ‘Don’t Let Him Know’, and likes to let everyone know about his opinions whether asked or not.
