Rishi Sunak
(born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
since 25 October 2022.
[1]
He was
Chancellor of the Exchequer
in the
Boris Johnson
government from 2020 to 2022.
[2]
He is a member of the
Conservative Party
and has been a
Member of Parliament
since the
2015 general election
.
In July 2022, Sunak resigned from his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer in protest against the Boris Johnson government. This caused a
government crisis
. Sunak later announced his candidacy for
Leader of the Conservative Party
in the
2022 leadership election
.
[3]
He lost the election to
Liz Truss
in September. However, a month later, Truss resigned, and Sunak ran again
in the second 2022 leadership election
. Nobody ran against him, and he became the new Conservative Party leader on 24 October 2022. Sunak is the first non-white, first
British Indian
, and first
Hindu
person to become prime minister of the United Kingdom.
[4]
Sunak was born at Southampton General Hospital in
Southampton
to
Indian
parents.
[5]
Sunak went to school at
Winchester College
. He later studied at
Lincoln College, Oxford
, and went to
Stanford University
as a
Fulbright Scholar
. After
graduating
, he worked for
Goldman Sachs
.
Sunak was elected for
Richmond (Yorks)
at the
2015 general election
. He was in
Theresa May's second government
as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government
. He voted for May's
Brexit withdrawal agreement
three times. After May resigned, Sunak supported
Boris Johnson
's campaign to become
Conservative leader
.
After Johnson was elected, he appointed Sunak as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. When
Sajid Javid
resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak replaced him in February 2020.
As Chancellor, Sunak handled the government's economic response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
and the decision to lockdown. In April 2022, he broke COVID-19 regulations during lockdowns. He was the first Chancellor in British history to be punished for breaking the law while in office. He
resigned
as Chancellor on 5 July 2022 because he was against Johnson's leadership.
[6]
2022 Conservative leadership elections
[
change
|
change source
]
On 8 July 2022, Sunak announced his candidacy to replace Johnson in the upcoming
Conservative party leadership election
.
[3]
On 20 July, after winning the first five rounds of the election, he reached the final round against
Liz Truss
.
[7]
On 5 September 2022, it was announced that Truss had won the election with 81,326 votes while Sunak got 60,399 votes.
[8]
A month later, Truss resigned as prime minister in October. Sunak was the front-runner to
replace her in the second leadership election
of 2022.
[9]
[10]
He announced his candidacy on 23 October 2022.
[11]
On 24 October, he became the only leadership candidate after Boris Johnson said he would not run again and
Penny Mordaunt
withdrew from the race. He was announced as the new Conservative Party leader.
[12]
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
[
change
|
change source
]
Sunak became
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
on 25 October 2022.
[1]
He is the first non-white person and the first
Hindu
to become prime minister.
[4]
With a net worth of £730 million, he is the richest British prime minister since
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
.
[13]
Most of the people who have been Prime Minister in the past were also rich, although there were a few exceptions. In general, Prime Ministers have more money than most people.
Sunak is also the youngest prime minister since
William Pitt the Younger
.
[14]
In May 2024, Sunak announced that the
next general election
will be held on 4 July 2024.
[15]
In 2009, he married fashion designer
Akshata Murty
.
[16]
She is the daughter of the Indian billionaire
N. R. Narayana Murthy
and businesswoman
Sudha Murty
. They have two children.
They live at a
manor house
in the village of
Kirby Sigston
, near to
Northallerton
, North Yorkshire.
[17]
They also own a
mews
house in
Kensington
in central London, a flat in
South Kensington
, London, and a penthouse apartment in
Santa Monica, California
.
[18]
- ↑
1.0
1.1
Lawless, Jill (25 October 2022).
"Sunak takes over as UK prime minister amid economic crisis"
.
AP
.
- ↑
Heffer, Greg (18 February 2020).
"Budget 2020 to remain on 11 March, new Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirms"
.
Sky News
. Retrieved
18 February
2020
.
- ↑
3.0
3.1
"Ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak launches bid to be Conservative leader"
.
BBC News
. 8 July 2022.
- ↑
4.0
4.1
"Rishi Sunak Is Britain's Next Prime Minister. Here's What To Know"
. TIME. 24 October 2022
. Retrieved
25 October
2022
.
- ↑
"Rishi Sunak's Southampton childhood described in Lord Ashcroft biography | Daily Echo"
.
www.dailyecho.co.uk
. Archived from
the original
on 2022-10-24
. Retrieved
2022-10-23
.
- ↑
Media, P. A. (5 July 2022).
"Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid's resignation letters in full"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
6 July
2022
.
- ↑
"Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will go head-to-head in the race to become the UK's next prime minister"
. CNBC
. Retrieved
20 July
2022
.
- ↑
Hughes, David (5 September 2022).
"Truss wins Tory leadership race and faces daunting challenge as PM"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
5 September
2022
.
- ↑
Woodcock, Andrew (20 October 2022).
"Rishi Sunak will make second bid for prime minister, allies claim"
.
The Independent
. Retrieved
20 October
2022
.
- ↑
Cecil, Lydia Chantler-Hicks, Nicholas (2022-10-21).
"Rishi Sunak in early lead but Boris Johnson wins Ben Wallace support - all we know"
.
Evening Standard
. Retrieved
2022-10-21
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ↑
"Rishi Sunak enters race to replace Liz Truss as UK prime minister"
.
The Guardian
. 2022-10-23
. Retrieved
2022-10-23
.
- ↑
"Rishi Sunak to become UK's PM after Mordaunt joins Johnson in withdrawing"
.
the Guardian
. 2022-10-24
. Retrieved
2022-10-24
.
- ↑
"Rishi Sunak set to become the UK's first non-white prime minister?and its richest"
.
Yahoo
. 24 October 2022.
- ↑
Tolhurst, Alain (24 October 2022).
"Rishi Sunak Becoming First British-Asian Prime Minister Seen As "Historic Moment"
"
.
politicshome.com
. Retrieved
24 October
2022
.
- ↑
"UK PM Rishi Sunak set to announce surprise July election as his party seeks to defy dire polls"
. CNN
. Retrieved
22 May
2024
.
- ↑
"Akshata Murty: Rishi Sunak's wife and richer than the Queen"
.
The Guardian
. 7 April 2022.
Archived
from the original on 7 April 2022
. Retrieved
7 April
2022
.
- ↑
"Chancellor Rishi Sunak has new pool, gym and tennis court approved"
.
BBC News
. 26 August 2021.
Archived
from the original on 29 August 2021
. Retrieved
29 August
2021
.
- ↑
Gadher, Dipesh.
"New chancellor Rishi Sunak adds Downing Street address to his bulging property portfolio"
.
The Times
.
Archived
from the original on 9 July 2022
. Retrieved
15 July
2022
.
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