Rishi Sunak's Biography
Rishi Sunak Facts
Photo of Rishi Sunak: Simon Walker / HM Treasury,
- http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 -OGL 3 via Wikimedia Commons
Spouse(s) / Partner(s)
He is married to Akshata Murty.
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Children
He has two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.
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Hobbies
Keeping fit, cricket, football and movies.
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Rishi Sunak's parents came to the UK from east Africa and are of Indian origin.
Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton. His father was a GP, and his mother ran her own pharmacy.
After Winchester College, like so many of his predecessors as Prime Minister including Liz Truss, he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University.
Subsequently, he was a Fulbright Scholar studying for an MBA at Stanford University. It was where he met his wife-to-be Akshata Murty, the daughter of Narayana Murthy, the billionaire co-founder of Infosys.
Rishi Sunak was elected Conservative MP for William Hague's old constituency Richmond (Yorks) in May 2015 and served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from June 2017 until being made chief secretary to the Treasury and then promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer, a post he held from 13 February 2020 to 5 July 2022.
Sunak became Chancellor when Sajid Javid quit after a falling-out with the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Very shortly after being appointed Chancellor, Sunak was faced with a stiff test being in charge of the economy during the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns.
Sunak resigned as Chancellor in July 2022, after controversy had dogged Boris Johnson, particularly concerning parties being held in 10 Downing Street during lockdowns. That said, Sunak himself was fined by police for breaking lockdown rules.
In July 2022, after Boris Johnson resigned as Prime Minister, Sunak won the support of the majority of Conservative MPs to take over, but the wider Conserveative Party membership preferred Liz Truss.
However, after Truss's disastrous short period in power, it was Rishi Sunak who was confirmed as her successor by Conservative MPs on 24 October 2022.
Rishi Sunak became the UK’s first British Asian, first Hindu, and the first person of colour to be Prime Minister.
Trivia
He is a teetotaller.
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