Rishi Sunak, the first Indian to become chancellor of the exchequer, has been named “Politician of the Year” by The Spectator.

This annual event hosted by the magazine is traditionally attended by parliamentarians from across the political spectrum.

They are expected to sing for their supper by making good natured jokes about each other.

Accepting the award, Rishi thanked The Spectator for repaying the money the magazine and many other businesses were given to tide them over the pandemic through the chancellor’s expensive furlough scheme — and joked that there was “another £399 billion left to go”.

This year’s award ceremony was held at the Rosewood Hotel in London’s West End but conspicuous by his absence was the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had once edited The Spectator.

At one stage, Boris continued to edit The Spectator when he became an MP. He gave up the editorship when he became mayor of London for eight years on his way to 10 Downing Street.

Theresa May, whom Boris ousted as Prime Minister, was named “Backbencher of the Year”, while Sajid Javid, who returned from the political wilderness to be appointed health secretary, was given a prize for making the “Comeback of the Year”. But the top accolade went to the chancellor, who has been nicknamed “Dishy Rishi” by the tabloid press.

That might not help his relationship with Boris, whose premiership is going through a particularly rocky patch for a number of reasons, including perceived “Tory sleaze” and his apparently inability to check the flow of migrants across the English Channel from France.

A dozen backbench Tory MPs have apparently written letters saying they have “no confidence” in his leadership — far short of the 54 required under party rules to trigger a contest.

According to the Mail, “Downing Street has sought to play down reports of tensions between Johnson and Sunak”. Meanwhile, The Times reported that “Mr Sunak was becoming increasingly frustrated with the ‘chaotic’ operation in No 10”.

Rishi is widely tipped as a front runner to be the next Prime Minister when the time comes. But the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who has tried to make friends with senior politicians in the Indian government, is also seen as a serious candidate. The Spectator named her “Minister to Watch”.

She mentioned that she had won “Minister to Watch” three times now, and would quite like to graduate to the higher awards. The Spectator’s comment: “Watch out Boris.”