RISHI Sunak is set to become the 56th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), taking over from Liz Truss who lasted just 44days in the role.
At a time of great uncertainty and looming economic crisis, it is expected that the new leader of the Conservative Party will bring his financial expertise to bear in restoring economic and political stability.
While the country and global investors wait to see what strategy Sunak will adopt to set the balance between tax rises and spending cuts, here are 10 things to know about the new Prime Minister:
Rishi Sunak was born to Hindu parents of Punjabi Indian descent and lived his early life in Kenya.
He attended both the University of Oxford and Stanford University.
He is UK’s youngest, first Hindu Prime Minister.
Sunak was finance minister under Boris Johnson at the age of 39 years.
He is one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster and has a net worth of over 700 million pounds.
He co-founded an investment banking firm – Theleme Partners.
Sunak was elected as the Conservative MP for the Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire in 2015 and secured over 60 per cent of votes to win a re-election in 2019.
He supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum on EU membership. He voted three times in favour of May’s Brexit withdrawal agreement.
He is married to Akshata Murty, the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, the Indian billionaire businessman who founded Infosys.
Rishi Sunak once said in 2020 that he never wanted to be Prime Minister, while answering a question about his potential aspirations for the position.
[ICIR]