Who is the UK’s new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak?

After the withdrawal of former prime Minister Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak became the first non-white Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. So who is the new Prime Minister that has been trusted to take the nation forward?

In 1980, Sunak was born in Southampton to Indian parents who had moved to the UK from east Africa.  The eldest of three children, Sunak was educated at a private boarding school, Winchester College, which costs £43,335 a year to attend.

Sunak went to Oxford University one of the world’s most prestigious universities and from here, he studied politics, philosophy, and economics. He was awarded a first-class degree. He later gained a master’s of business administration (MBA) at Stanford University, where he met Akshata Murty, his future wife, but also where few others remember him.

Sunak is married to one of the richest men in India NR Narayana Murthy, often described as the Bill Gates of India, who founded the software company Infosys. It is reported that Akshata Murty owns a 0.91% stake in the company, worth about £700m.

The two got married in 2009 in a two-day ceremony in Akshata’s hometown of Bengaluru. They have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

Sunak and Murty’s combined fortune is estimated to be £730m. Sunak and Murty’s combined fortune is estimated to be £730m.

How did Rishi Sunak Rise to the top of Britain’s Politics?

 

Sunak has had a faster transition from member of Parliament to Prime Minister faster than most MPs in the modern era. The last Prime Minister to do this was David Cameron who achieved the same in nine years, but again, Pitt the Younger holds the overall record with just two years.

It wasn’t easy getting to the top for Sunak by all measures. After losing to Liz Truss in a vote of Tory members on 5 September, he was expected to disappear from politics – and quickly did, last speaking in the Commons the day after Truss became PM. But when Truss’s disastrous and unfunded tax cuts brought her down in flames, Sunak was ready with the backing of supporters he had gathered over the summer campaign.

After winning the leadership, Sunak, whose career has been defined by fiscal conservatism, told MPs his ambition was to have a “highly productive UK economy” and that he backed low taxation but that it had to be affordable and deliverable.

The new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet with King Charles III where he will be officially named Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and from there, the leader will give his speech to the nation at Downing Street.

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