By Priyanka Deshpande
CNBC-TV18.com
Published July 4, 2024
The Conservative leader and Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is eyeing a comeback in the upcoming general elections. Who is he? What is his India connection?
Born to Yashvir Sunak and Usha Sunak, on May 12, 1980 in Southampton, Rishi Sunak is contesting from the Richmond (Yorkshire) parliamentary constituency.
EARLY LIFE
Married to Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys founder Narayan Murthy and Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty. Sunak’s grandparents were born in India, migrated to East Africa in the 1960s and from there to the UK.
INDIA CONNECTION
Sunak has studied from Winchester College and Lincoln College Oxford. He also has an MBA as a Fulbright Scholar from Stanford University.
EDUCATION
Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty together have an estimated net worth of more than £651 million* (approx ₹6,871 crore)
NET WORTH
Sunak worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs from 2001 to 2004, became a partner at The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI) in 2006, and joined Theleme Partners in 2009.
BEFORE ENTERING POLITICS
Sunak was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorkshire) in 2014 and was elected in 2015. In 2017 he was re-elected as the MP and served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
RISE TO POWER
In 2018, he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Local Government). In 2019, he was re-elected and appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury and was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020.
On July 5, 2022, Sunak resigned as Chancellor and on July 9, 2022 announced bid to succeed Boris Johnson as UK PM. He lost to Liz Truss on September 6, 2022. Although, Truss resigned as the British PM on October 20, 2022, after just 45 days in office.
Following which Sunak on October 23, 2022 announced bid to replace Liz Truss as the next leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister of Britain. On October 25, 2022, he became UK’s first prime minister of colour.
In May 2024, Sunak announced general elections on July 4, more than six months ahead of the legally mandated deadline.