A New Era in British Politics: Get to Know Rishi Sunak

The Prime Minister of the UK has changed 5 times in the last 6 years. Indian-origin Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister at one of the most turbulent times in British Political History. In 2015, he became a member of the British Parliament at the age of 35. This leader of an Indian origin has reached the top of his political career after only 7 years. 

He is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of Britain in the past 200 years. More interestingly, Rishi Sunak is so rich that he has twice the wealth of the current British King Charles III. Who is this most talked about Rishi Sunak? How he became Prime Minister of Britain and what is the source of his vast wealth?

For the first time in history, the son of Indian origin ascended to British State Power's top position. His father Yashvir and mother Usha Sunak from Indian Punjab descent. Rishi's father's family was in Kenya and his mother's family was in Tanzania. Later they arrived in Britain for better education and work opportunities. Yashvir Sunak was General Practitioner (GP) at National Health Service and Usha Sunak was a Pharmacist and owned the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton. 

Rishi Sunak was born in 1980 in Port City Southampton. He got higher education both in Britain and the United States. He graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford in 2001 and gained MBA from Stanford University in 2006, where he was a Fullbright Scholar. He is the eldest of three siblings. His brother is a Psychologist and his sister is Chief of Strategy and Planning at the United Nations, New York. He married Akshata Murthy in 2009, whom she met at Stanford University. Akshata Murthy is the daughter of Narayana Murthy, the founder, and chairman of Infosys.

Sunak begins his working career at Goldman Sachs between 2001 and 2004 as an analyst. Later he worked for The Children's Investment Fund Management and became a partner in 2006. He was also a Director of Catamaran Ventures, owned by his father-in-law, between 2013 and 2015.

In 2010, Sunak joined the Conservative Party. His political success begins with being elected as a Member of Parliament from North Yorkshire, Richmond area in 2015. Sunak was one of the activists who worked to get Britain out of Europe. During Brexit Sunak told, Britain will freer and more prosperous if its leaves Europe.

Sunak was re-elected at the 2017 General Election and served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government under former Prime Minister Theresa May. Later in 2019, Boris Johnson promoted him as Chief Secretary of the Treasury, serving under Chancellor Sajid Javid. After resigning of Sajid Javid, Sunak became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2020. But he also resigned in 2022 due to moral reasons. Experts believe that Boris Johnson's government was shaken after Sunak's resignation.

Following Boris Johnson's resignation, Sunak also competes with Liz Truss in the race to become Prime Minister. Sunak's campaign message was to deal with the British economic crisis created by Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine War. Although the party elected Liz Truss the Prime Minister. But within 6 weeks Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister due to internal pressure from the party. Then Sunak started fighting to become the new leader. Boris Johnson joins Sunak in becoming the new leader after Liz Truss. Allegations emerged that Boris asked Sunak to withdraw from the election. But in the end, Boris himself stood down. Also competing was Penny Mordaunt. Sunak got the support of 142 out of 357 seats in Parliament and only 24 got Penny Mordaunt. She later withdrew her name from the race. Sunak as the leader of the Conservatives, became the new 57th Prime Minister on 25 October 2022, after accepting King Charles III's invitation to form a government. First speech as Prime Minister, Sunak promised professionalism, nobility, and responsibility.

After being elected, Sunak set several records. He is the youngest elected Prime Minister of Britain in 200 years. He is also the 1st Indian-born and non-white person to sit on the British Prime Minister's List. The most surprising fact is that he is the richest Prime Minister in Britain. He is so rich that he has more wealth than King Charles III of Britain. Not just more, but twice as much. 

Rishi Sunak never inherited so much wealth. As a child, he used to deliver medicines door to door by bicycle from his mother's pharmacy. After growing up, he also worked as a waiter in a restaurant in Southampton. At present Rishi's major sources of income are IT businesses and hedge funds. Institutions that invest in a variety of complex financial sectors and risky businesses are called Hedge Funds. Rishi says about himself that he achieved success in business life as the co-founder of large investment firms. His firm worked with many companies from Silicon Valley to Bengaluru and also assisted various British firms. His wife Akshata Murthy and father-in-law also contributed to the success of Rishi's life. His wife is also very rich, as his father-in-law has a net worth of around $4 billion.

Rishi's real estate assets include a luxury house in London, which has a current market of around £570 million. Sunak couple owned a flat in Brompton, Old London where they spend time with friends during holidays. Also, they own a farmhouse in North Yorkshire and a penthouse apartment in Santa Monica, California. He likes to wear expensive brand suits and shoes. For this reason, the Britain media has a lot of discussions about the luxurious life of Rishi Sunak.

Despite being from an immigrant family, like other leaders of the Conservative party, Sunak has a strong stance on immigration policy. He once said, a proper immigration policy is good for the country, but we must control the border. However, while introducing himself, he repeatedly mentioned his motherland, India. He also identified himself as a Hindu. Sunak took his oath as an MP at the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita in 2019. He remarks that self-identity is very important to him. He said, My parents, came and settled in this country. So there is a generation in this country who were born in this country but their parents were born elsewhere.