Is ‘Dishy Rishi’ really a ‘Saucy Sunak’? PM’s guilty pleasure revealed to be Jilly Cooper books with one of his favourite novels claimed to be steamy bonkbuster ‘Riders’ – while Tory leader also loves TV’s Emily In Paris and pop crooner Michael Buble

• PM is claimed to be teased by collegues over his taste in books, TV and music

The Prime Minister is known by admirers as ‘Dishy Rishi’ – but ‘Saucy Sunak’ might be a better moniker after his love of steamy Jilly Cooper books was revealed.

It has emerged how the Tory leader has ‘several’ guilty pleasures, including the ‘bonkbusters’ by the 86-year-old English author.

The PM is said to be a particular fan of Cooper’s first international bestseller ‘Riders’, which recounts the escapades of wealthy international showjumpers.

The novel, set in the Cotswolds, is advertised as offering ‘an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks’.

The Spectator magazine, which revealed Mr Sunak’s enthusiasm for Cooper’s tales, claimed the PM is also teased by colleagues for his love of TV’s Emily in Paris and pop crooner Michael Buble.

Rishi Sunak is said to be teased by colleagues for his love of Jilly Cooper novels, TV’s Emily in Paris and pop crooner Michael Buble

The PM is said to be a particular fan of Cooper’s first international bestseller ‘Riders’, which recounts the escapades of wealthy international showjumpers

The novel, set in the Cotswolds, is advertised as offering ‘an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks’

Riders, published in 1985, was the first of Cooper’s books in the Rutshire Chronicles series.

Cooper has previously described how she finished a first draft of the novel in 1970 but then left it on a bus.

The Evening Standard newspaper put out an appeal for the manuscript’s return, but it was never found and Cooper was forced to start rewriting it years later.

She has hailed it as ‘probably one of the best books I ever wrote because the characters had built up over 15 years’.

When he was Chancellor, Mr Sunak admitted he had ‘broadly stopped reading fiction’ because he was too busy, although he said ‘all my favourite books are fiction’.

But he was revealed to have binge-watched Emily In Paris – which stars Lily Collins as an an ambitious young American marketing executive in the French capital – during the Covid lockdowns.

The PM has also previously spoken of being a fan of fellow Netflix hit Bridgerton – an often raunchy series about members of high society in London during the Regency era.

Mr Sunak has conceded his tastes are ‘probably not quite the same’ as some of his Cabinet colleagues.

‘Like Emily In Paris, I’m not sure how many others watched that. I’ll check,’ Mr Sunak told the Radio Times in 2021.

Mr Sunak was previously revealed to have binge-watched Emily In Paris – which stars Lily Collins as an an ambitious young American in the French capital – during the Covid lockdowns

Mr Sunak’s music tastes are also quite mainstream, with the PM having revealed his enjoyment of Michael Buble’s Christmas Deluxe album

He also spoke in the interview of having watched the A-Team, Baywatch and Blind Date with his parents, brother and sister as they enjoyed a Saturday night takeaway when growing up in Southampton.

Mr Sunak’s music tastes are also quite mainstream, with the PM having revealed his enjoyment of Michael Buble’s Christmas Deluxe album.

‘In the evenings working on my own I just put Bublé on. It’s great when you are signing Christmas cards to get you in the mood,’ he told the Spectator in December last year.

Asked about the suggestion that one of Mr Sunak’s best-loved books is Riders, a No10 spokesman said: ‘I think previously he has said one of his favourite books is the Count of Monte Cristo, but I haven’t asked him specifically about Riders.’

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