Britain’s next Prime Minister is a 42-year-old former finance minister, Rishi Sunak. But that’s not the only thing that’s pushing him to the limelight. His Indian origin and Hindu background combined with his career from MP to the PM is worth the talk. Sunak got selected as the PM after Penny Mordaunt, his only rival, called a quit.
With this, Rishi Sunak became the first Indian-origin PM of the United Kingdom. And now, he has a difficult task to complete. It’s to restore stability in the nation that went into economic and political chaos after Brexit in 2016.
Here’re some facts you should know about Britain’s new PM, Rishi Sunak:
- Sunak was chosen the PM after Penny Mordaunt couldn’t get 100 lawmakers to support him by 2 pm.
- Rishi Sunak is the first person of Indian origin, even the first British Asian and a person of colour to lead the nation.
- Rishi is the son of a doctor father and a pharmacist mother. His parents moved from East Africa to the UK, settled there, and gave birth to Rishi in 1980 in Southampton.
- The birthplace of Rishi’s grandparents is Gujranwala, British India, which is a part of the Punjab Province of Pakistan.
- In the ‘60s, many families migrated to Britain from the former colonies including the Sunak family.
- Sunak’s first limelight appearance in British politics came when he became the Finance Minister. He was 39 and the pandemic had just hit the UK. Working under Johnson, he developed a successful furlough scheme.
- In 2015, Sunak got elected from Richmond, Yorkshire and became an MP (Member of Parliament).
- Recently, Rishi has been referred for his divisive politics as many party members consider him responsible for bringing Boris Johnson down.
- He studied at Winchester College, Oxford University, and Stanford University.
- Sunak’s wife is NR Narayana Murthy’s daughter, Akshata Murthy. Narayana Murthy is one of the IT giant Infosys founders.
- Sunak and Akshata are parents to two daughters.
- Before entering politics, Rishi had a successful finance career. He is a former hedge fund boss, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, and a multi-millionaire.
- He worked at TCI Fund Management of Chris Hohn, a billionaire activist hedge fund manager for around three years. Then, he joined Theleme Partners, a hedge fund of Pattrick Degorce who was his colleague at TCI.
- Recently, Sunak’s family had their funds under scrutiny. Issues arose over Akshata, Sunak’s wife getting earnings from abroad but not paying taxes in the UK.
- The political pressure got relieved on rishi after Akshata agreed to start paying taxes on her overseas earnings in the UK.
- British tabloids used the term “Dishy Rishi” to describe him when he was on the rise. However, this term changed to “Fishy Rishi” after Rishi got stuck in concerns related to Akshata’s tax status row, the Partygate scandal, and tax increasing move.
Reports suggest Rishi’s net worth at £700 million. The couple owns a mansion in Yorkshire and a property in Kensington, Central London.
Image Credits: Flickr
