Rishi Sunak grilled by UK MP: ‘…but you opined on cricket rules.’ Who is Chris Bryant?

A video of Labour MP Chris Bryant grilling British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over his attendance record in the UK Parliament has gone viral on social media. Bryant was seen confronting Sunak for his failure to attend the parliamentary vote on whether or not to suspend Boris Johnson.

In the 90-minute grilling from MPs on July 4, Bryant, at the Liason Committee, accused Sunak of “choosing not to be there” for the vote on Boris Johnson’s future.

Sunak, in his defence, said he had no control over the timings of events where he will be missing from the Commons. Bryant asked him when a prime minister had missed two sessions of Prime Minister’s Questions or PMQs in a row, and then challenged him about not attending sessions in the Commons about now-former MPs Owen Paterson and Boris Johnson, BBC reported.

Sunak said he would miss PMQs to attend an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHS and next week, he would be at a Nato summit.

Bryant said: “Talking about your respect for Parliament. You didn’t turn up for the Owen Patterson votes. At all. That’s right isn’t it?”

Sunak responded: “I can’t recall”.

Bryant then asked: “You didn’t turn up for the Boris Johnson vote at all, did you?”

When Sunak replied saying he was at a charity dinner, the MP hit back: “I think that’s cutting it fine I would argue, since members of Parliament that were at the same dinner as you and left after you did manage to get back for the vote.”

Sunak said: “With the greatest respect, I think their role and my role at the dinner probably were slightly different.”

Bryant hit back and said: “You chose not to be there didn’t you? On two rule breaking moments, you chose not to be in Parliament.

“But yesterday, you opined on the rules of cricket. Take us through that.”

Sunak said: “I chose to fulfil my obligation to an incredible charity, for whom that is one of their significant fundraising moments of the year… My presence is something that they had ask for and me being there meant I was able to thank their volunteers and donors, which was something that they appreciated.”

Who is Chris Bryant?

Chris Bryant is the Labour MP for Rhondda, and has been an MP continuously since June 7, 2001.

He previously served as under secretary of state at the foreign office between 2009 and 2010.

Later, Bryant served in the shadow cabinet as shadow leader of the House and Shadow Culture Secretary.

He resigned in 2016 in protest against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, warning in his resignation letter that Corbyn would be remembered as the man who “broke the Labour Party”.

In 2019, he came second to Sir Lindsay Hoyle in the election to replace John Bercow as Speaker of the House of Commons.

Born in 1962 and brought up in Cardiff, Spain and Cheltenham, Bryant read English at Mansfield College Oxford and Theology at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, before being ordained in the Church of England in December 1986.

He was knighted in the 2023 New Year Honours List.

He is a former chair of the Christian Socialist Movement, and between 2002 and 2007 was Chair of the Labour Movement for Europe.