Outspoken Iceland executive chair Richard Walker revealed how Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lambasted him for speaking out on the rising use of food banks.
During a 2022 meeting discussing Walker’s aspirations to stand as a Conservative MP, Sunak accused the Iceland boss of making statements that were politically inconvenient.
Walker told the Daily Mirror: “Sunak told me he was shocked that I wanted to be a Tory candidate because he thought I was some Leftie. My remarks about food banks on the day of his Spring statement had put him in a tough spot.”
The Iceland boss’ bid to become a Tory MP were ultimately blocked, which he puts down to his media profile and independent stance. He resigned from the party in 2022 and has since publicly backed Labour.
He told the newspaper: “If I’m not allowed to talk about critical issues like the state of our rivers or champion net-zero policies, then I don’t want to be part of that. The party wanted people who would just follow orders, but I couldn’t conform to that.”
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Walker has been an advocate on various social and environmental issues and has steered Iceland to address climate change, plastic waste and the cost-of-living crisis affecting UK families.
Yesterday, Iceland published its first-ever supermarket manifesto, ‘Frozen Out’, as Walker pledged to use its platform to give customers a voice during election year.
The manifesto, which uses data from a survey of 6,500 customers, highlighted that shoppers’ biggest concern remains the cost-of-living crisis.
A panel of seven Iceland customers from across the UK have been selected to lead the manifesto and provide monthly insights as part of Iceland’s initiative to bring real-world concerns to parliament.
