biography of rishi sunak in english

Rishi Sunak

Who Is Rishi Sunak?

Following a successful early career in finance, Rishi Sunak entered Parliament as a Conservative MP from Richmond in 2015. Named Chancellor of the Exchequer just five years later, he earned praise for devising a massive bailout package to support struggling businesses and individuals amid the spread of Covid-19. Sunak fell short in his initial bid for the Conservative Party leadership, but he became the U.K.'s first prime minister of color when Liz Truss abruptly resigned from the post in October 2022.

How Old Is Rishi Sunak?

Rishi Sunak was born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, England.

Parents and Nationality

Early years and education.

The oldest of three children, Sunak developed an early love for cricket and a knack for business by helping out at the family pharmacy.

Although an expected scholarship to Winchester College never materialized, Yashvir and Usha accepted the financial burden of sending their son to the prestigious boarding school, with Sunak contributing by working as a waiter on holidays. He went on to edit the school newspaper, The Wykehamist, and became Winchester's first "head boy" from an Indian background.

Sunak then enrolled at the University of Oxford's Lincoln College, where he studied the Philosophy, Politics and Economics curriculum. Not prominently involved with the school's political circles, he instead became president of the Oxford University Investment Society, before graduating with a first-class degree in 2001.

Sunak later attended Stanford University's Graduate School of Business on a Fulbright scholarship , earning his MBA in 2006.

Financial Career

Sunak began his professional career as a junior analyst in the London branch of Goldman Sachs, where he focused on American stocks in the media and transportation sectors. Following his time at Stanford, he returned to England to enter the booming hedge fund industry as a partner at The Children's Investment Fund (TCI).

The splintering of TCI sent Sunak back to California in 2010 to work for a former boss at the hedge fund Thélème Partners. He later took over as director for his father-in-law's investment firm, Catamaran Ventures, from 2013-15.

Before his start in politics, Sunak also served as a board member for a Boys & Girls Club in California, a governor of the East London Science School and as director of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of the right-center think tank Policy Exchange.

Member of Parliament

Sunak launched his political career with a bid to replace longtime Conservative MP William Hague in the constituency of Richmond, North Yorkshire, in 2015. Although there was concern over how he would fare in the rural, mostly white region, the newcomer won over residents to claim more than 50 percent of the vote.

His rapid rise fueled by a sharp intellect and polished manner, Sunak became a parliamentary private secretary at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in June 2017 and then under secretary of state at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government the following January. Along the way, the neophyte MP made a name for himself by opposing Prime Minister David Cameron to come out in favor of Brexit .

After backing the leadership campaign of former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson , Sunak was rewarded with the post of chief secretary to the Treasury in July 2019 and even stood in for Prime Minister Johnson during general election debates later that year.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

In February 2020, just seven months after joining the Treasury, Sunak became its head as the second-youngest-ever chancellor of the Exchequer.

Initially tasked with meeting a tight deadline for the budget, Sunak quickly turned his focus to emergency measures to prop up the British economy amid the rapid spread of Covid-19. After announcing a £350 billion rescue package for businesses on March 17, he soon followed with pledges to support both furloughed workers and the self-employed.

While other measures, such as his " eat out to help out " plan, failed to make much of an impact, the chancellor's popularity soared with his demonstration of capable leadership and a willingness to buck his Conservative convictions to continue financially supporting struggling businesses and individuals.

Beyond his pandemic-related management, Sunak hosted the G7 Summit in June 2021 and oversaw the western powers' agreement to establish a landmark global corporation tax . The following spring, he signaled his intention to back the emerging cryptocurrency market with the announcement that he had asked the Treasury to design a non-fungible token (NFT).

Although he endured public embarrassment for breaking lockdown rules, Sunak leveraged the resentment over Johnson's scandal-plagued premiership to resign as chancellor on July 5, 2022, setting off a wave of government departures that forced the prime minister to step down two days later.

Prime Minister

One of 11 candidates who declared their intention to succeed Johnson, Sunak decried the "fairy tale" tax cuts proposed by his competitors. Although he emerged as an early favorite for the party leadership as Conservative MPs whittled the field down to two, Sunak ultimately lost the final round of voting to incumbent Foreign Secretary Liz Truss , who became the U.K. prime minister on September 6, 2022.

However, Truss's premiership caved beneath the financial turmoil caused by her plan to slash taxes and freeze household energy bills. With most of her economic proposals overturned amid a surging inflation rate, Truss announced the end of her historically brief tenure as prime minister on October 20, 2022.

Sunak became the only candidate to receive the necessary backing of 100 fellow MPs, enabling him to take office as the first U.K. prime minister of color on October 24, 2022.

"When the opportunity to serve comes along, you cannot question the moment, only your willingness," he declared in his acceptance speech . "So, I stand here before you ready to lead our country into the future, to put your needs above politics, to reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party. Together, we can achieve incredible things."

Wife and Family

Sunak met entrepreneur Akshata Murty , daughter of Infosys founder N. R. Narayana Murthy, while enrolled at Stanford. Following their high-profile wedding in August 2009, the couple went on to have daughters Krishna and Anoushka.

Akshata came under scrutiny in April 2022 when it was revealed she did not pay U.K. taxes on her foreign earnings due to her "non-domicile" status. She later renounced that status to avoid being a "distraction" to her husband's political interests.

A devoted Hindu , Sunak is known for taking his oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita and for his public commemoration of the festival of Diwali.

Thanks, in large part, to his wife's family fortune, Sunak became the richest prime minister in U.K. history, with a reported net worth of £730 million as of May 2022. At the time, his properties included a mansion in Kirby Sigston, Yorkshire; two residences in west London; and a beach penthouse in Santa Monica, California.

Along with his professed interests in cricket, football and overall fitness, Sunak often cites his love for Star Wars on social media and reportedly owns a collection of lightsabers.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1980
• Birth date: May 12, 1980
• Birth City: Southampton
• Birth Country: England
• Best Known For: Rishi Sunak became the United Kingdom's first prime minister of color after taking office in October 2022.
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• Astrological Sign: Taurus
• Standford University
• University of Oxford
• Winchester College
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• Sunak became the youngest U.K. prime minister since 24-year-old William Pitt the Younger ascended to the role in 1783.
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• Article Title: Rishi Sunak Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
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• Last Updated: December 8, 2022
• Original Published Date: December 8, 2022
• I stand here before you ready to lead our country into the future, to put your needs above politics, to reach out and build a government that represents the very best traditions of my party. Together, we can achieve incredible things.
• I think in our country, we judge people not by their bank account, we judge them by their character and their actions.

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Who is Rishi Sunak, the new UK prime minister?

Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Monash University

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Ben Wellings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

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When Rishi Sunak was elected by Conservative MPs as their new leader and hence prime minister of the United Kingdom, the British nation breathed a sigh of relief: thank God it wasn’t Boris Johnson .

Had Johnson been re-elected leader it would have had serious consequences, not just for the Conservatives, but in the real world too.

Only the most obtuse political observer could have failed to see that the optics of cutting short your Caribbean holiday to try to resolve a cost of living crisis was not good politics. It sounds hard to believe, but this was not obvious to everyone.

Johnson garnered public support from some of the Brexiteer old guard like Jacob Rees-Mogg and in the pro-Boris media .

But in characteristic fashion, Johnson exaggerated his chances. This latest act of self-promotion backfired and he withdrew from the leadership race on Sunday (regretably having missed half his holiday). Nevertheless, the fact that many Conservatives seriously thought a chaotic government could be brought under control by someone known for chaotic management, shows how deep the ideological divisions within the party have become.

With the third contender, Penny Mordaunt, falling just shy of the 100 MPs’ votes needed to send the leadership contest to a vote of the grassroots party members – a fate to be avoided at all costs after they forfeited the confidence of MPs by installing Truss – Rishi Sunak will become the next prime minister of the UK.

Sunak’s elevation is a socially significant moment. He is the first British Asian, or any person of colour, to become PM. Much of the credit can go to David Cameron’s attempts to modernise the Conservative party in the mid-2000s. The Conservatives have done a better job than other parties in putting more women and people of colour into positions of political influence and power. In a system that only had its first openly Catholic prime minister in 2019, Sunak is the first Hindu to assume that role.

But the significance of the first person of colour as British Prime Minister will probably get lost in the class dynamics of this political moment.

Like Johnson, Sunak isn’t short of a bob or two . This will make the economic politics of Sunak’s tenure difficult. Having a multi-millionaire telling the nation to tighten its belts and make sacrifices to its already declining living standards won’t go down well.

Read more: It matters that Rishi Sunak has become the UK’s first prime minister of Indian descent

And like Johnson, Sunak also went to an elite private school. In Sunak’s case it was Winchester rather than Eton, just for a bit of variety. This will matter for perceptions of the new PM among the wider electorate. The Conservatives are seen as a party of – and for – the wealthy. They increasingly appear as a small, ageing and out of touch privileged class unable to see the true extent of the crisis that their choices in government have exacerbated.

Sunak’s in-tray is bulging. The cost of living and energy crises will be the foremost political and economic challenges, but the B-word (Brexit) still casts a shadow. It has not lived up to the over-inflated expectations of its most ardent boosters. Increasing numbers of voters think it was wrong to leave the EU. How Sunak manages this coming “ winter of discontent ” will define his premiership.

However, the policy levers he has at his disposal have been discredited by the Truss-onomics episode. Truss’s long-term legacy may well be the conclusion that neoliberal economics worked well in theory, but not in practice.

Sunak will probably enjoy a longer honeymoon period than his predecessor. His election has calmed one part of the Conservatives’ core constituency: the bond markets. However, his future with the electorate is less secure. For better or worse, leaders influence how people choose to vote; or at least parties behave as if this were true. His legitimacy with the electorate is not as strong as it could be given that he is the third Conservative leader and PM since the last election in 2019.

Read more: There’s something wrong with British politics. It’s called the Conservative Party

Calls for a general election are growing. Presumably, with the Conservatives so far behind in the polls , Sunak will try to hold on as long as possible. But this may only prolong the pain and defer a significant loss of seats whenever the next election arrives.

This all feels a bit like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Part of the difficulty for the Conservatives points to a growing structural problem for centre-right parties: intra-party ideological divisions. This issue has weakened the centre left for a couple of decades. These parties saw their support base split between tertiary-educated urban dwellers interested in post-material issues, and blue-collar supporters from declining manufacturing industries with some residual, but weakening, loyalty to social democracy.

Now such divisions seem to be affecting the right of politics too. As we saw in the 2022 federal election in Australia, the right’s traditional support base is split between affluent moderates concerned about climate change, and older social conservatives concerned about immigration. This appears to be happening in the UK too.

This internal division can be exploited by the opposition as we saw with the fracking vote . On paper, Sunak should feel secure with a 71-seat majority in a 650-seat parliament. But the Conservatives have lost confidence. The party is behaving like one that has only the slimmest of majorities and is on its way out. Sunak’s premiership may well be a case of the band playing on.

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Rishi Sunak: What you need to know about the UK's first British Asian prime minister

We look at how the southampton-born banker made his way to the top job in the conservative party - and downing street..

By Faye Brown and Jennifer Scott, political reporters

Friday 26 January 2024 16:05, UK

Rishi Sunak became the youngest prime minister of the modern era when he took over the Conservative Party back in 2022.

As we head towards the next election, we take a look at how the Tory leader reached his position in politics and got the keys to Number 10.

First-class Oxford degree

Born in 1980 in Southampton, he is the eldest of three children to his parents of Punjabi descent.

Mr Sunak's father was a family doctor and his mother ran a pharmacy, where he helped her with the books.

He attended England's oldest public school, Winchester College, where he became the first Indian-origin head boy and was editor of the school paper.

He has since said his experience at the boarding school was "intellectually transforming" and put him "on a different trajectory".

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Mr Sunak went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College at Oxford University, where he obtained a first-class degree.

After completing an MBA at Stanford University, where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, Mr Sunak worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst.

He was said to have already had job offers from investment banks under his belt while still in his second year at Oxford.

He moved to work for hedge funds in 2006 when he joined TCI, known as a very aggressive fund, and left three years later to cofound a new hedge fund.

Mr Sunak then turned his attention to politics.

Replacing a Tory grandee

In 2014, Mr Sunak was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the Yorkshire seat of Richmond - previously held by former Tory leader William Hague - before the following year's general election.

Nicknamed the "maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales", he recalled being introduced as "the new William Hague" to his constituents after winning the ballot, to which a Yorkshire farmer replied: "Ah yes Haguey!

"Good bloke. I like him. Bit pale, though. This one's got a nice tan."

Soon after his entry into the Commons - where, as a Hindu, he took his oath on the Bhagavad Gita - the first big political fight of his career came over Brexit.

Mr Sunak supported leaving the EU, claiming the UK would be "freer, fairer and more prosperous" outside the bloc.

His side won, and he bided his time on the backbenches, supporting Theresa May's negotiations and writing papers on the benefits of freeports, before being appointed to government in January 2018 as a junior minister at the housing department.

After Mrs May's demise, he joined with colleagues Oliver Dowden and Robert Jenrick to write an article in The Telegraph, backing Boris Johnson as the only person who could "save" the Tory party.

His support paid off, as when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Mr Sunak secured a promotion to become chief secretary to the Treasury, and the right-hand man to Sajid Javid as chancellor.

It was the exit of that boss that led to his real rise to prominence when he was made chancellor in February 2020 - a month before COVID took hold.

From relative unknown to household name

Mr Sunak won praise throughout the pandemic for rapidly introducing support schemes worth billions of pounds to keep jobs and businesses afloat during 18 months of lockdowns.

The likes of furlough and the "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme led to "dishy Rishi" becoming a household name, and a popular one with the public.

At the height of this popularity, he was seen by many Tory MPs as the sure-fire favourite to succeed Mr Johnson when the time came.

But he seemed to fall from grace as quickly as he rose to fame.

Mr Sunak introduced a number of policies that went down badly with Tory MPs, especially the rise in national insurance to fund more money for the NHS and social care.

He was also fined for attending the prime minister's birthday party during COVID restrictions in 2020, compromising his ability to separate himself from the partygate scandal.

But it was revelations about his wife that really damaged his standing with the public.

Wife's non-dom status hits leadership hopes

Ms Murty is a multimillionaire and daughter of billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of the Indian technology giant Infosys.

In April 2022 it was revealed she held non-dom status, meaning she did not have to pay UK tax on her sizeable international income, and it led to an uproar.

She later confirmed she would begin to pay tax on her international earnings as it had "become clear that many do not feel [the non-dom status] is compatible with my husband's role as chancellor".

The row led to opposition parties highlighting his family's wealth, with Mr Sunak facing accusations his personal circumstances made him an unsuitable candidate to take over and tackle the cost of living crisis .

Although he remained as chancellor, many wrote off his chances of becoming the next Tory leader.

But his resignation in July sparked a ministerial exodus and Mr Johnson's resignation as PM, paving the way for his first attempt at Downing Street.

In the ensuing leadership race, Mr Sunak came out on top in each of the five parliamentary rounds of the contest, making it to the final two along with Liz Truss, who was foreign secretary in Mr Johnson's government.

But as the campaign hit its stride and widened to the party membership, Mr Sunak found himself transformed from favourite to underdog.

While he warned of "tough choices ahead" to tackle record levels of national debt incurred during the pandemic, Ms Truss promised tax cuts as a priority.

He accused his competitor of "fairy-tale" economics and peddling "something-for-nothing" plans that even former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would baulk at.

But Ms Truss doubled down, landing blows on Mr Sunak for putting taxes up to the highest level in 70 years.

Staying in the background

She went on to win the party leadership after securing 57% of the vote, compared to 43% for Mr Sunak.

While Ms Truss embarked on a path of economic turmoil thanks to her tax-slashing mini-budget, the former chancellor kept a low profile, only appearing in the Commons for a few backbench debates and staying away from the cameras.

And after her resignation following a historically short tenure, all eyes were back on Mr Sunak as the candidate to bring back stability to the markets and, perhaps, the party.

He announced he was running to replace Ms Truss on Twitter three days later, having already reached the 100+ nominations needed to get a place on the ballot.

But that was all we saw of the favourite for PM as he again kept out of the spotlight, despite going for the highest profile job in the land.

Up until two minutes before the deadline for nominations, it looked like Mr Sunak would be facing Penny Mordaunt - another former leadership contestant who fancied her chances again.

But she pulled out of the race at the last minute and so, instead, he was anointed as both leader and prime minister without challenge - the first Hindu and British Asian to reach the position in UK history.

Rocky premiership

Standing on the steps of Downing Street, the new prime minister promised a government of "integrity, professionalism and accountability" as he attempted to break away from the chaos of his predecessors.

But his tenure in office has brought its own challenges - and a steadily decline in both his and his party's popularity.

The first few months of his premiership saw a raft of scandals and resignations, with both Sir Gavin Williamson and Dominic Raab quitting amid bullying allegations, and Nadhim Zahawi exiting over his tax affairs .

Mr Sunak attempted to steady the ship come January 2023 by setting out his vision through "five priorities" for government .

His pledge to half the record inflation figure was achieved by the end of the year - though debate remains over whether that was through the work of the government or the markets.

But the jury remains out on his two other economic promises - reducing debt and growing the economy.

Cutting NHS waiting lists hasn't gone to plan either, with the numbers still sitting above 7.5 million, and relations with the sector remain rocky as junior doctors continue to strike over pay and conditions.

It is perhaps his final pledge, however, that has become the flagship of his premiership - "stop the boats".

Mr Sunak adopted the Johnson-era policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda in an attempt to deter further Channel crossings, but it has continued to cause him problems, from the UK's Supreme Court ruling it unlawful through to rebellions on his backbenches calling for tougher measures - he even lost some ministers over it.

But it remains front and centre of his agenda as he heads into the next general election, which Mr Sunak has indicated will be held in the second half of this year .

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Rishi Sunak Biography: Birth, Age, Parents, Education, Political Career, Net Worth, And More

Rishi sunak has become the first indian-origin prime minister of the united kingdom. check rishi sunak's birth, age, wife, education, and other details. .

Rishi Sunak is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, Britain as well as the first leader of colour. He replaced the former PM Liz Truss who only lasted 44 days in the job before she resigned from the position. 

Indian-origin UK politician Rishi Sunak's campaign to be the Prime Minister of Britain after the resignation of Boris Johnson on July 7, 2022, received an endorsement from the Deputy Prime Minister of Britain Dominic Raab and transport minister Grant Shapps, who decided to ditch his own leadership bid to back Sunak. 

Rishi Sunak, the 41-year-old served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022, having previously served as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2019 to 2020. Rishi Sunak is a member of the Conservative Party who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) since 2015. 

I’ve landed in Delhi ahead of the #G20 summit. I am meeting world leaders to address some of the challenges that impact every one of us. Only together can we get the job done. pic.twitter.com/72vE60c7Fg — Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 8, 2023

Let's take a look at the life of Rishi Sunak.

Rishi Sunak Biography

Rishi sunak biography: birth, age, and parents.

Rishi Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, Hampshire, South East England to Indian parents Yashvir and Usha Sunak who were born in Kenya and Tanzania respectively. His father was a general practitioner while his mother was a pharmacist who ran a local pharmacy. 

Rishi Sunak Education 

Rishi sunak's business career, rishi sunak: as a frontrunner for uk prime minister.

Rishi Sunak, on July 8, 2022, a day after the resignation of former UK PM Boris Johnson, announced that he would stand as a candidate in the Conservative Party Leadership Election to replace Boris Johnson. The conservative politicians who supported Boris Johnson criticized Rishi Sunak as leading the charge in bringing down the Prime Minister. 

Rishi Sunak's Political Career

In 2014, he was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks), a seat that had previously been held by William Hague. The seat has been held by the Conservative Party for over 100 years now. That year, he headed the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of Policy Exchange and co-wrote a report on BME communities in the United Kingdom. 

In the 2015 General Election, he was elected as an MP from Richmond (Yorks). From 2015 to 2017, he served as a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. 

He supported the EU referendum in 2016. He also wrote a report for the Centre for Policy Studies supporting the establishment of free ports after Brexit, and the following year wrote a report advocating for the creation of a retail bond market for SMEs. 

He was re-elected as MP from the same seat in the 2017 General Election. He served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary from January 2018 to July 2019. He supported PM Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election and even co-wrote an article in a British national daily to advocate for Johnson during the campaign in June 2019. 

Sunak was re-elected in the 2019 General Election and was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2019 and served under Chancellor Sajid Javid. He became a member of the Privy Council on 25 July 2019. 

After a cabinet reshuffle in February 2020, Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunak presented his first budget on 11 March 2020. As the pandemic created a financial impact, Sunak announced the £30 billion of additional spending of which £12 billion was allocated for mitigation of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On 17 March 2020, he announced £330 billion in emergency support for businesses and a salary subsidy scheme for employees. Three days later, he announced the job retention scheme but received severe backlash as an estimated 100,000 people were not eligible for it. The scheme was extended until 30 September 2021. 

Sunak unveiled the £30 billion Eat Out to Help Out Scheme to support and create jobs in the hospitality industry. The government-subsidized food and soft drinks at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants at 50%, up to £10 per person. The offer was available from 3 to 31 August 2020 from Monday to Wednesday. While some consider the scheme to be a success as it subsidized £849 million in meals, others disagree. A study at the University of Warwick revealed that the scheme contributed to a rise in COVID-19 infections of between 8% and 17%. 

In his March 2021 budget, Sunak announced that the deficit had risen to £355 billion in the FY 2020-2021, the highest in peacetime. He increased the corporation tax from earlier 19 to 25% in 2023, a five-year freeze in the tax-free personal allowance and the higher rate income tax threshold. 

At the G7 Summit in June 2021, a tax reform agreement was signed to establish a global minimum tax on multinationals and online technology companies. In October 2021, OECD signed an accord to join the tax reform plan. 

Rishi Sunak Wife 

Non-domiciled status of rishi sunak's wife and green card.

Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy has non-domiciled status, which means that she is not required to pay tax on the income that she earned abroad while living in the United Kingdom. Murthy pays around 30,000 pounds to secure the particular status, which further allows her to avoid paying an estimated 20 million pounds in UK taxes. 

After the media controversy on the matter which arose during Rishi Sunak's announcement to run for Prime Minister, Akshata Murthy announced on April 8, 2022, that she will pay UK taxes on her global income. She further added that she does not want it to be an issue or a distraction from her husband's plans. 

Reportedly it was also revealed that Rishi Sunak continued to hold the U.S. Permanent Resident Card he had acquired in the 2000s until 2021, including for 18 months after he was Chancellor, which required filling the U.S. Tax returns. 

Also Read | Rakesh Sharma Biography: Birth, Age, Education, Career, Awards and More About Indian Astronaut

Get here current GK and GK quiz questions in English and Hindi for India , World, Sports and Competitive exam preparation. Download the Jagran Josh Current Affairs App .

• Where is Rishi Sunak from originally? + Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton to Indian parents who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960's.
• When was Rishi Sunak born? + Rishi Sunak was born on 12th May 1980 in Southampton.
• How old is Rishi Sunak? + Rishi Sunak is 42 years old.
• What degree does Rishi Sunak have? + He graduated in Politics and Economics from Lincoln College, Oxford and obtained an MBA from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright scholar.
• Who is the father in law of Rishi Sunak? + Indian billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy is the father in law of Rishi Sunak.
• Who is Rishi Sunak married to? + Rishi Sunak is married to Akshata Murthy. The couple has two daughters.
• What is the nationality of Rishi Sunak? + The nationality of Rishi Sunak is British.
• Who is Rishi Sunak? + Rishi Sunak is the Chancellor of the Exchequer since February 2020 and MP for Richmond (Yorks) in North Yorkshire since 2015. He is speculated to be the frontrunner for Prime Minister's position.
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Rishi Sunak's legacy: how the PM will be remembered

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

Margaret Thatcher "had the Falklands", Tony Blair "had Iraq", and David Cameron , Theresa May and Boris Johnson  "will be remembered for Brexit".

Liz Truss will be known as "the shortest serving prime minister long after the facts of her mini-Budget are forgotten", wrote John Rentoul in The Independent . But with the Conservatives almost certainly heading for defeat at the next general election , what legacy will Rishi Sunak leave behind?

The first British Asian PM

Britain's first non-white and first Hindu prime minister arrived at No. 10 with "little fanfare", stepping in after Truss's short tenure , said Sunny Hundal in the Financial Times in October 2022. That Sunak was tasked with leading the country is a sign that Britain "is increasingly comfortable with being a multicultural democracy".

Global perception lagged behind "the quietly transformed British reality", said Fraser Nelson in  The Telegraph . In the US, "The Daily Show" released a video sketch suggesting there would be a "racist backlash". But in reality there was "no fuss" at all – a silence that spoke volumes.

Rwanda Bill

Sunak's plan to send asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda has become his showpiece policy. Passing the bill in April, he called it a piece of "landmark legislation", promising that the first deportations would start in July, despite the first flights being initially planned for the spring.

Sunak "has single-mindedly driven this policy through despite a torrent of personal abuse and the wrecking tactics of opposition parties, unelected peers and human rights lawyers", said the Daily Mail . While the plans still face legal hurdles, "the PM clearly means business".

Wrecking over fixing

The prime minister has been "too keen on wrecking" in his final year of power, said The Economist , with his decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 "the most obvious example". Cutting the link between Birmingham and Manchester supposedly freed up £40 billion to be "splashed elsewhere", yet "in reality, this funding will probably evaporate".

He has also watered down the country's net zero plans, although he claimed that UK emissions can still reach net zero by 2050.

A smoke-free generation

In a "landmark public health intervention", Sunak could become the prime minister who was able to "create the UK's first smoke-free generation", said The Guardian .

Should the Tobacco and Vapes Bill pass, anyone who becomes 15 in 2024, or who is younger, will be banned from buying cigarettes. It will also aim to make vapes less appealing to children.

Some Tory MPs have expressed concern, including former PM Boris Johnson, who called the proposed legislation "nuts". But MPs voted to back the government plans by 383 votes to 67 in April. The proposed legislation will still need to pass through the Lords before it becomes law.

The 'out of touch' leader

With his Silicon Valley background and billionaire in-laws , Sunak has frequently contended with accusations of being woefully disconnected with ordinary voters. A YouGov poll earlier this year revealed that 78% of the public – including 70% of 2019 Conservative voters – think that Sunak is out of touch.

When interacting with the public, he has "a toe-curling ability to say the wrong thing", said deputy political editor Jessica Elgot in The Guardian . He once asked a homeless man: "Do you work in business?" He has also been widely mocked online for appearing to be unable to use a debit card, and for borrowing a Kia from a Sainsbury's worker in a petrol PR photoshoot instead of using his government Jaguar.

'Doomed to fail'

After their drubbing at the local elections , the Tories still lag far behind Labour in the opinion polls. Sunak seems certain to be remembered for leading the Conservative Party to a historic defeat after 14 years in power.

To be fair, he "started with the weakest hand of any prime minister in the modern era", said James Ball in The New European . "He had been roundly defeated in a leadership contest just seven weeks earlier, and was selected as leader, extremely grudgingly, by a party desperate to avoid the indignity of another contest."

The positioning of this "accidental prime minister" has since "ricocheted around like a pinball in a malfunctioning table", often valuing the "novel or the surprising over the sane". Yet each trick has been "doomed to fail".

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is turning to an oft-tried strategy to save the Conservatives at the UK election

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It started with a border force blitz as plain clothed agents raided properties across the United Kingdom.

Asylum seekers were detained and taken away to detention centres while others were bundled into vans in the dead of the night after routine check-ins.

The Home Office filmed it and released it to the media.

Fear spread quickly as those who had come here by boat, without permission, scrambled to disappear.

Even those entering the UK on student visas were frightened of what the future may hold.

Rishi Sunak's conservative government had finally managed to pass its controversial plan to process asylum seekers in the east African nation of Rwanda.

Despite flights not being due to take off for a couple of months, the Tories launched the operation days before crucial local government elections.

Facing electoral wipe-out, the party wasted no time reaping the spoils of its legislative success.

"The stories that are emerging in terms of detention, especially when it's weeks or even months before any flights take off, certainly seems politically opportune for the prime minister," political commentator Joelle Grogan told 7.30.

The policy, however, failed to prevent landslide losses for the Tories at council elections, but it did keep the story in the headlines.

"This is certainly one of the most radical pieces of legislation I've ever seen and the fact the prime minister has staked his reputation on getting flights off the ground in defiance of the Lords, domestic courts, international courts is certainly astonishing in legal and political terms," Ms Grogan said.

'Stop the boats'

Sunak's crackdown on asylum seekers crossing the English Channel by deporting them to another country shouldn't come as a surprise to Australians.

After all, the concept echoes former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott's 'Stop the Boats' policy, which was largely credited with sweeping the Coalition to power in 2013.

It's so similar, Britain's Conservative government didn't even bother changing the three-word slogan.

The idea may have started under former prime minister Boris Johnson, but Sunak has made it the centrepiece of his re-election campaign.

While it's not unusual for governments to play on fear and division, it's clear he's borrowed some notes from the political playbook of his allies Down Under.

Both share the objective of deterring asylum seekers by sending them offshore where their claims are processed with no prospect of return. Former coalition foreign minister Alexander Downer advised the UK government on its Rwanda plan.

Under the bill, anyone who arrived without permission after January 2022 could be sent on a one-way flight to Rwanda for resettlement.

That means the future of more than 50,000 people seeking asylum now hangs in the balance.

The plan has faced several legal and political challenges since it was first floated in April 2022.

But those plans were thrown into disarray in November after Britain's highest court ruled the policy "unlawful" .

The Supreme Court concluded Rwanda was unsafe for several reasons but at the heart of its judgement was the country's human rights record, it's arbitrary legal system and concerns that asylum seekers risked being sent to another country, which could endanger their life.

'Safety of Rwanda'

To get around the ruling, the government trekked back to Rwanda and signed a new treaty, adding more safeguards.

The latest iteration of the legislation, aptly called the "Safety of Rwanda Bill", which finally passed parliament last month, now declares the country to be safe, despite evidence to the contrary.

It also directs public servants, ministers, and the courts to do the same when considering challenges.

"At domestic level, we certainly see the act, which is telling every decision maker, any courts, any judge, any migration officer not to consider any international obligations when it comes to human rights," Ms Grogan said.

"However, as a matter of law, that doesn't mean these obligations disappear.

"One of the challenges we're most certainly going to see is to the European Court of Human Rights."

The government is also facing challenges from the public.

The passing of the policy, which according to polls has divided Britain almost down the middle, led to protests on UK streets.

Campaigners have gathered outside immigration centres to block buses taking asylum seekers away while others have stopped immigration officers from transferring those staying in hotels.

At a protest in south-east London, we meet 27-year-old Nik Mohammad Noori, who came to Britain nine months ago on a student visa.

Unable to pay the fees, he's been living in a government-funded hotel since he arrived.

He's among the asylum seekers fearful of what comes next after being singled out for transfer to the Bibby Stockholm, a barge housing asylum seekers off England's south coast.

"The people from the hotel are afraid that the next step from the barge will be Rwanda, so it's very unclear, they do not give you clear information," he said.

"I will not go to the Bibby Stockholm. I also have no other place to go as of now, so I am in a dilemma as what to do.

"Who is included in that bill? Who can go, who should not go. As far as I know, it is for illegal immigrants. Not knowing what will happen next is much more stressful than knowing something bad is going to happen."

Breaking international law?

Legal challenges will come but the chance of success for asylum seekers is largely limited to personal circumstances that would put their lives in danger.

The union representing civil servants was the first to hit the courts, launching an unprecedented lawsuit in the high court.

"Normally, people would expect the government to uphold the rule of law," First Division Association general secretary Dave Penman told 7.30.

"This is not usually a question that's asked around whether government is acting illegally and whether it's actually asking civil servants to break the law.

"The government have said that they potentially want to ignore rule 39 orders, which are injunctions from the European Court … that means that they will be breaking the law, they'll be breaking international law.

"The idea that you can just pick and choose which bits of the law you ask the civil service to uphold is really important because civil servants potentially are the last bar after ministers acting in [an] unlawful way."

It could be argued that the Conservative government jumped the gun arresting asylum seekers so soon given the risk of legal action holding up deportations.

But with the economy in tatters in a post-Brexit world and the public health system in crisis, Rishi Sunak has to look like he's achieving something as the next general election fast approaches.

Even if all it turns out just to be political theatre.

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Rishi Sunak Biography: Birth, Age, Religion, Parents, Wife, Education, Net Worth and Other Details

On 25th October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the 1st non-white and also the 1st Indian origin prime minister of the United Kingdom. Rishi Sunak was born on 12th May 1980 in Southampton, England.

Rishi Sunak’s biography is not only interesting, but it is inspiring as well for a lot of young Indians, considering he became the prime minister of the UK, only 7 years after he joined politics in 2015.

Not only this, Rishi is also the youngest prime minister of the UK in more than 200 years.

In this biography, we will discuss everything you need to know about Rishi Sunak’s birth, age, early life, religion, wife, net worth, etc.

Rishi Sunak Biography

Rishi sunak birth, age, parents & grandparents.

Rishi Sunak, who is currently 43 years of age, was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, England.

Rishi Sunak comes from a very interesting and diverse family background.

Rishi’s paternal grandfather was from Gujranwala (currently in Pakistan, but was part of British India before 1947). Similarly, Rishi’s maternal grandfather was from Ludhiana (currently in India, but was part of British India till 1947)

Interestingly, this makes Rishi an Indian as well as a Pakistani.

Rishi Sunak’s grandparents left Gujranwala in 1935 to work in Nairobi, Kenya. Rishi’s father Yashvir was born in Kenya, while his mother Usha was born in Tanganyika (present day Tanzania).

It was around the dictatorship of Ugandan politician Idi Amin when things really got worse for the Asian communities such as Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc. and there were regular instances of hate crimes against the Asian people. This forced a lot of Asian population from East Africa to relocate to the UK, US, and Canada around the 1960s.

It is reported that Rishi’s grandparents had to sell their wedding jewelry to be able to finance the relocation to the UK.

After relocation to the UK, Rishi’s parents Yashvir & Usha Sunak got married in 1977 in Leicester, England.

Rishi’s father was a general practitioner in the NHS (National Health Service), while his mother ran a pharmacy.

After 3 years of marriage, Rishi was born in 1980 and he was the eldest of the siblings Rishi, Sanjay, and Rakhi.

Rishi’s brother Sanjay is a psychologist and his sister Rakhi is the chief of strategy and planning at the United Nations.

Rishi Sunak Early Life & Education

Rishi Sunak comes from a family with immigrant roots, this is why, his childhood is a perfect example of exemplary hardwork and determination.

Rishi used to assist her mother in her pharmacy store and eventually learned to manage the accounts of the store. During his summer holidays, Rishi used to work as a waiter in a local Indian restaurant in Southampton.

Thanks to Rishi’s parents’ savings, Rishi was able to attend the most prestigious institutions for his academics.

After studying at the Stroud School in Romsey, Rishi would later join Winchester college which is one of the most premier institutions in the UK (costs over 40,000 pounds or 40 lakhs a year).

Over the recent years, Rishi Sunak had made multiple donations of over 100,000 pounds to the school.

After completing his studies at the Winchester college, Rishi continued his education at the Lincoln college, Oxford university.

Rishi was also one of the 9 rare undergraduates accepted to study philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College.

Rishi was a natural leader even during his college days, as he later served as the President of Oxford Trading and Investment Society.

Rishi completed his graduation from Oxford University in 2001, and started working for Goldman Sachs, after which he pursued a MBA from the Stanford University in California, USA as a fulbright scholar.

Rishi Sunak Wife & Children

While Rishi Sunak was studying MBA at Stanford, he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, who also happens to be the daughter of Indian billionaire, N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys.

Rishi and Akshata lived in California for a couple of years before moving back to London. After knowing each other for over 4 years, the couple decided to tie the knot in August 2009 in Bengaluru.

It is believed that their wedding was not an extravagant affair, and was conducted in a short 2 day low-key ceremony.

Akshata Murthy is believed to be the world’s most powerful Indian woman with an estimated wealth of over a billion US dollars.

In 2011, Akshata gave birth to their 1st daughter Krishna and in 2013, their 2nd daughter Anoushka.

Despite the fact Rishi is UK’s prime minister, his daughters Krishna and Anoushka have managed to stay away from the media limelight.

Rishi Sunak Parents in Law

Rishi Sunak’s parents in law Narayana and Sudha Murthy do not require any introduction as the latter is the chairperson of Infosys, while the former is the co-founder of Infosys.

Narayana and Sudha met in 1974, and got married in 1978 in Bangalore with only a few friends and family, much like their to-be future daughter Akshata.

It is interesting to note that their wedding expenses came out to be only 800 rupees at that time, which was shared 50-50 by both Sudha and Narayana.

Moreover, Sudha’s father was not in favour of Narayana at that time, as he was not earning much. It was only after Narayana started working as a General manager with Patni computers in 1977, Sudha’s father agreed to the marriage.

Sudha is known to be a fearless woman in expressing her thoughts, while Narayana on the other hand has always been a shy and an introvert person.

Not many people know, but Narayana Murthy took a loan of 10,000 rupees from his wife Sudha to start Infosys, and the rest is history.

Rishi Sunak Business Career

Given the fact Rishi Sunak graduated from the top institutions across US and the UK, there was no doubt Rishi Sunak was going to be successful in his career.

Soon after completing his graduation from Oxford University in 2001, Rishi started his career as an investment banking analyst with Goldman Sachs.

Rishi worked with Goldman Sachs till 2004, after which, he moved back to London in 2006 to work with the Children’s Investment Fund Management, a hedge fund management company.

Rishi was promoted to a Partner in the same company in 2008. However, soon after his promotion, Rishi once again moved to California in 2009 to join another hedge fund, Theleme Partners.

Between 2013 and 2015, Sunak was also the director of investment firm Catamaran Ventures, founded by his father in law Narayana Murthy.

Rishi Sunak Political Career

Rishi always wanted to be a politician, that’s why, while studying at Oxford university, he took an internship at Conservative Central Office (headquarters of the British Conservative Party).

Rishi Sunak has been involved with the conservative party since 2010. Rishi was chosen to be a member of the party’s leading think tank, Policy Exchange, where he later became the head of Black and Ethnic Minority research unit.

Rishi’s political career took a sharp turn in 2014, when he was chosen as the Conservative Party’s candidate for the House of Commons representing Richmond.

From 2015 to 2017, Rishi was a member of the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs select committee.

In 2018, for the first time, Rishi was given his first ministerial position as Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in 2018.

This was the time when Rishi was working closely with the then prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. In July 2019, Rishi became Chief Secretary to the Treasury and in the following year 2020, Rishi replaced Sajid Javid to become the 4th youngest finance minister of the UK.

The then PM Boris Johnson announced his resignation in July 2022, which made Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss leading candidates for the post of next prime minister of the UK.

However, this did not go very well for Rishi, since he only received 42.6% of the votes as compared to 57.4% in favour of Liz Truss.

Due to the harsh state of the economy, covid impact, and some extreme changes proposed by PM Liz Truss, she announced her resignation on October 20 (only 6 weeks after she became PM).

This was a golden opportunity for Rishi, which he did not let go, and eventually, on 25th October 2022, Rishi Sunak became the 1st Hindu, non-white person to lead the United Kingdom.

In only a span of 7 years, Rishi rose from being an MP to the highest position one could get, the Prime Minister of the country.

Rishi Sunak Achievements

In 2020, when Covid was rampant throughout the globe, Rishi Sunak came up with a programme which aimed at providing 330 billion euros in emergency support for businesses. This programme was the first of its kind, and was well received.

In July 2020, Sunak further announced a plan for 30 billion euros of spending which included a stamp duty holiday, a job retention bonus for employers and the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

This plan was introduced to create jobs in the hospitality sector. To promote this scheme, Rishi’s government subsidised food and soft drinks at participating cafes, pubs and restaurants at 50%, up to 10 euros per person.

Later next year in Oct ’21, the government proposed a budget which included substantial spending promises related to science and education.

In June ‘21, Sunak also hosted a G7 summit in London where a tax reform agreement was signed.

Rishi Sunak Controversies

In April 2022, it was revealed that Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata, who was an Indian citizen had claimed a tax status that allowed her not to pay UK taxes on her overseas income.

The decision to not pay taxes saved his wife Akshata as much as 20 million euros in a period of 7 years. However, later on she agreed to make a payment of 30,000 euros per year on her dividend earnings from overseas sources.

Rishi’s love for the UK was also questioned when it was found out that he had held onto a green card for U.S. residency until late October 2021.

Rishi also faced criticism for his thoughts about trans women in 2022, which he later clarified.

In April 2022, Rishi was fined by the UK police for violating lockdown laws since he was going to attend a party with Boris Johnson.

Rishi Sunak Religion & Nationality

Rishi Sunak is an Indian British national and follows Hinduism. Time and again, Rishi has been vocal about his Indian heritage.

Interestingly, Rishi took his vow as an MP of the house on the Bhagavad Gita.

Rishi Sunak Net Worth

As of 2022, it is reported that Rishi Sunak has an individual net worth of 200 million euros (176,000 crores).

However, if you add Akshata’s net worth to that of Rishi’s, it comes up to 700 million euros (over 600,000 crores).

This makes Rishi Sunak as one of the richest prime ministers of the country, even ahead of the monarchy present in the UK.

Rishi Sunak Interesting Facts

After Queen Elizabeth’s death, Rishi Sunak became the 1st prime minister to be appointed by King Charles.

Rishi is also known as the ‘Maharaja of the Dales’ due to his net worth.

Rishi Sunak is known to be a fan of Southampton Football club and he even snuck a portable television in his school during a EURO final in 1996 to see England play.

Rishi confirmed during one of his interviews that he is addicted to Coca-Cola.

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The Observer view on the local elections: Rishi Sunak is a busted flush, it’s time to call a general election

After this week’s terrible results for his party, the only honourable thing to do is let voters decide his fate

Rishi Sunak’s government began last week by triumphantly announcing that a man whose asylum claim had been rejected had volunteered to take up to £3,000 cash in exchange for agreeing to take a commercial flight to Rwanda – plus the provision of housing, food and healthcare there for five years at a cost of £150,000 to the taxpayer . Sunak bookended it with some of the worst-ever English local election results for the Conservatives, and the shock loss of the West Midlands mayoralty to the Labour party.

A direct line can be traced from this preposterous claim of success to electoral disaster. During 14 years in government, the Conservatives have eroded the welfare safety net, sabotaged the quality of public services through underfunding and neglect, and imposed a huge economic hit in the form of a hard Brexit. Child poverty has gone up , the NHS is blighted by record waiting lists and understaffing and social care services for the vulnerable have been adversely affected.

Sunak has no answers on any of this. Instead, the bulk of his energy appears focused on his hopeless Rwanda plan to “stop the small boats”. While parliament passed the legislation to pave the way for detained asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda at the end of last month, it remains highly unlikely that this immoral scheme will deter desperate men, women and children from countries like Syria and Afghanistan from attempting the dangerous Channel crossing. This is even more true in light of the very low probability of deportation, given the relatively small numbers involved .

It will be at least another few weeks before any of those who are seeking asylum get deported to Rwanda. The government’s attempt to bank a win for its scheme because someone with a rejected asylum claim, with no right to remain in the UK, voluntarily accepted a favourable deal to leave for Rwanda as an extension of a preexisting returns scheme, radiates sheer desperation. Last week’s election results demonstrate just how disconnected from voters it is.

The Conservatives suffered their worst local election defeat since 1996 in polls that took place across much of England, resulting in a loss of almost 500 councillors putting the party in third place on the seats contested, behind the Liberal Democrats, who enjoyed a good set of results. Conservative candidates lost in every mayoral contest except for Tees Valley. Even here there was a very significant swing away from the Conservatives. While the Reform party under-performed compared to national polls, it still cost the Conservatives votes including in the Blackpool South by-election, which contributed to the dramatic 26 percentage point swing there to Labour.

If the results were dire for the Conservatives , for Keir Starmer the story was overwhelmingly positive. Significantly, Labour candidates did best in areas where it most needs to excel to win a general election: areas which voted leave in 2019 and where it was challenging the Conservatives. This suggests the waning influence of Brexit divisions on people’s voting behaviour, and demonstrates growing Labour strength in the “red wall” seats in the north and the Midlands that opened the way for Boris Johnson’s 80-seat majority in December 2019. Labour won every newly created mayoralty and, in perhaps the most surprising result of the weekend, its candidate Richard Parker beat popular incumbent Andy Street in the West Midlands. It bodes very well for the general election.

That said, Labour did also lose votes to the Greens and to independents. These losses happened disproportionately, although not exclusively, in safer constituencies where Labour are more resilient to losing votes without costing them parliamentary seats. Some of these losses came in areas were there are high proportions of Muslim voters, and some in safe Remain constituencies and areas with high proportions of students – relatively comfortable territory for Labour in recent years. It highlights the degree of anger among a small but motivated section of voters, particularly Muslim Labour voters, over Starmer not taking a harder line with Israel, and hint at potential dividing lines within the left for a future Labour government.

But overall, the results show that voters are wise to the hollowness of Sunak’s pitch. They are all too aware that even if inflation falls further, the price spikes of recent months are already baked into their household budgets; that if they injure themselves, they may have to wait for months before the NHS can offer them pain-relieving surgery. Why does it matter to them if someone accepts a government bribe to leave for Rwanda as part of a voluntary scheme? From austerity to Brexit, voters were sold a promise of competence, responsibility and prosperity by consecutive Conservative prime ministers. After 14 years of failure, voters on Thursday told the government they have had enough. And Starmer deserves much credit for the promising indicators that many of those who abandoned Labour are returning to the fold.

The question for Sunak must be: why limp on for months as a lame-duck prime minister, when so many voters have made their view clear? As Starmer writes in the Observer this weekend, the most honourable way for him to be respond would be to call a general election.

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Rishi sunak biography in english: age, family, biography & more.

Rishi Sunak Biography In English: Since 2022, British politician Rishi Sunak has led the Conservative Party and served as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Being the first Asian prime minister from Britain, he had served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet in two different capacities, most recently as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022.

Rishi Sunak Biography In English

Rishi sunak early life & education.

On May 12, 1980 , Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton, England . His parents, Usha Sunak and Yashvir , were Indian immigrants to the UK in the 1960s . Sunak’s immigrant parents’ hardships and dreams, which he saw firsthand while growing up in a tiny town, gave him a strong work ethic and resilience.

Sunak was a student at the esteemed boarding school Winchester College. With a First-Class Honours degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE), Sunak graduated in 2001. His education gave him a thorough awareness of the socioeconomic environment, which would be helpful in his future undertakings.

Personal Life : Rishi Sunak Biography

Rishi Sunak’s personal life is still mostly unknown, despite his political career being widely publicized. The daughter of Indian billionaire and Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, he is married to Akshata Murthy. With two girls, the couple makes an effort to keep a healthy balance between their personal and professional life.

Entry into Finance

Sunak entered the finance industry after graduating. He began his career at the prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs. He developed his investment ideas and risk management abilities there while gaining priceless expertise in the financial industry. Sunak’s ascent to prominence in his field of expertise and commitment to hard work was facilitated by his peers’ acknowledgment.

Political Career Beginnings

Driven by his aspiration to effect meaningful change in his community, Sunak made the decision to enter politics. He ran for the North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond in the 2014 parliamentary election. As the Conservative Party’s representative, Sunak took up the challenge head-on, reaching out to voters and resolving their issues.

Rise to Prominence

After Sunak was chosen to represent Richmond as a member of parliament in the general elections of 2015, his political career took off. Because of his unwavering devotion to helping his constituents, Sunak was able to advance rapidly through the ranks and win the respect of both his colleagues and his constituents.

Chancellorship

After the prime minister, Rishi Sunak became the second-highest official in the British government when he was named Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 2020. He was given the responsibility of leading the nation’s financial affairs, creating the budget, and administering the economy as Chancellor. Sunak had the difficult job of leading the country through hitherto unheard-of difficulties, including as the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic effects.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rishi Sunak (@rishisunakmp)

​His programs, such the Eat Out to Help Out program and the furlough scheme, gave the economy much-needed support and vibrancy. 

Criticisms and Controversies

Rishi Sunak has endured his fair share of criticism and controversy, just like any other notable politician. According to some detractors, his economic policies exacerbate social inequality by disproportionately benefiting the rich. Claiming possible conflicts of interest, others have questioned his intimate ties to big business and finance. Thoughts on these issues are frequently subjective, and the full effects of policy changes might not be apparent right away, it is important to recognize this.

Achievements and Recognition

For his services to British politics and the economy, Rishi Sunak has been honored. His inclusion in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in 2020 demonstrated his impact and influence at an early age. In addition, Sunak has garnered accolades for his ability to explain intricate economic ideas in a way that is understandable to the general public as well as policymakers.

Future Prospects

Future potential are still exciting as Rishi Sunak works through the complexities of his role as Chancellor. The country will surely be eagerly awaiting his next move, regardless of whether he decides to assume more duties or become prime minister.

Rishi Sunak & Elon Musk Interview

Rishi Sunak’s path from the son of immigrants to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer is evidence of his commitment and tenacity.

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Rishi Sunak’s Dismal Task: Leading U.K. Conservatives to Likely Defeat

After 14 years of Conservative government, Britain’s voters appear hungry for change. And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seems unable to persuade them otherwise.

By Mark Landler

Reporting from London

A few days before Britain’s Conservative Party suffered a stinging setback in local elections on Thursday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recorded a short video to promote some good news from his government. In the eight-second clip , Mr. Sunak poured milk from a pint bottle into a tall glass, filled with a steaming dark beverage and bearing the scribbled figure of 900 pounds on the side.

“Pay day is coming,” Mr. Sunak posted, referring to the savings that an average wage earner would supposedly reap from a cut in mandatory contributions to Britain’s national insurance system.

The mockery soon started. He’d added too much milk, some said. His numbers didn’t add up, said others. And why, asked one critic, would Mr. Sunak choose a pint bottle as a prop days after the opposition Labour Party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, had skewered him in Parliament as a “pint-size loser”?

However partisan her jab, loser is a label that Mr. Sunak is finding increasingly hard to shake, even among his members of his own party. In the 18 months since he replaced his failed predecessor, Liz Truss , Mr. Sunak, 43, has lost seven special parliamentary elections and back-to-back local elections.

This past week’s local elections, in which the Conservatives lost about 40 percent of the 985 seats they were defending , were merely the latest signpost on what analysts say is a road to thumping defeat in a general election. National polls show the Labour Party leading the Conservatives by more than 20 percentage points , a stubborn gap that the prime minister has been unable to close.

The drumbeat of bad news is casting fresh scrutiny on Mr. Sunak’s leadership and the future of his party, which has been in power for 14 years but faces what could be a long stretch in the political wilderness.

For now, Mr. Sunak appears to have quieted talks that a cabal of Conservative lawmakers would try to oust him before the vote, which is expected in the autumn. The local results, while bad, were not as catastrophic as they could have been, averting a full-fledged panic among his colleagues. Having cycled through three prime ministers since the last election, the Tories are also running out of alternative leaders.

Embattled as he is, Mr. Sunak seems likely to limp to the general election as the standard-bearer of an exhausted, divided party.

“The broader view is that it’s probably better now to let Rishi stay in his post and absorb the defeat, and for successors to position themselves for what happens after Labour wins in a landslide,” said Matthew Goodwin, a political scientist at the University of Kent who has advised the Conservative Party.

Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London and an expert on the Tories, said, “He does look, to be honest, like a dead man walking.”

Defenders of Mr. Sunak say he is a victim of global economic headwinds coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the poisoned legacy he inherited from Ms. Truss, whose sweeping tax cut plan spooked the financial markets and tarnished Britain’s reputation for fiscal probity.

Britain’s persistent inflation, high mortgage rates and a stagnant economy all predated Mr. Sunak. The inflation rate has dropped to 3.2 percent from 11.1 percent when he took office, though credit for that goes principally to the Bank of England.

Mr. Sunak did win praise for steadying the markets and restoring Britain’s credibility after Ms. Truss. But critics said he never followed that up with a convincing strategy to recharge growth. Nor did he fulfill two other promises: to cut waiting times in the National Health Service and to stop the small boats carrying asylum seekers across the English Channel.

“Liz Truss cratered the party’s reputation for economic competence,” Professor Bale said. “But it’s also down to Sunak: He hasn’t got the grip, charisma or authority that someone doing the rescue job required would have needed.”

Part of that, critics said, reflects Mr. Sunak’s political shortcomings. He can be querulous in media interviews, and his attempts to connect with voters are often tin eared. He drew japes after posing in a pair of Adidas Sambas , an athletic shoe favored by celebrities like Rihanna and Harry Styles, while promoting his tax policies. “Sunak took an eternally cool sneaker, and ruined it for everyone,” said British GQ magazine.

Some say that Mr. Sunak, a onetime Goldman Sachs banker whose wife, Akshata Murthy, is the daughter of an Indian technology billionaire, is simply not a relatable figure. Before he was mocked for wearing Sambas, he caught flack for wearing £490 ($616) Prada suede loafers to a construction site.

The Labour Party leader, Keir Starmer, has taken aim at Mr. Sunak’s preference for flying across Britain to taking the train. “I’m sure from the vantage point of his helicopter everything might look fine,” Mr. Starmer said in Parliament, “but that’s not the lived experience of those on the ground.”

Mr. Sunak once posed with a “smart mug” for coffee, which retails for £180, on his desk — an image that stuck in the minds of those critiquing his milk-pouring video. “If anyone can afford a £900 cup of tea, it’s the prime minister,” the journalist Robert Hutton wrote on social media.

Others noted that Mr. Sunak’s claim that workers would save £900 in lower national insurance payments was misleading , because the government had frozen income tax thresholds. With inflation-adjusted wages, people are paying higher taxes without taking home extra money.

Mr. Sunak did not spend much time in the political trenches before becoming prime minister. He entered Parliament in 2015 and rose in just five years to be chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. After helping precipitate Mr. Johnson’s fall, he was beaten in his first leadership contest by Ms. Truss.

However bumpy his tenure, Mr. Sunak insists that his government has made headway on the economy, immigration and defense, with a pledge to increase Britain’s military spending to 2.5 percent of economic output by 2030.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Mr. Sunak drew a sharp distinction between the Tories and Labour. Voters, he said, would have a choice between “a plan versus no plan, bold principled action versus U-turns and prevarication, a clear record of delivery versus political game playing.”

Nowhere has Mr. Sunak invested more political capital than on immigration. He won passage of a divisive law that would put asylum seekers on one-way flights to Rwanda , and now vows to put planes in the air by July, before the election.

The Rwanda policy, which involves permanently deporting asylum seekers without hearing their claims for asylum, is anathema to rights activists, constitutional lawyers and the courts. But it is popular with rank-and-file Conservatives — calculated to win over the same voters in the Midlands and Northern England who turned against the Tories in the local elections.

Traditionally, these areas had been Labour strongholds, earning the nickname “red wall” after the party’s campaign color. But they swung to the Tories in 2019 because of Mr. Johnson’s promise to “Get Brexit Done.” Now, the coalition he cobbled together appears to be fracturing; the red wall is swinging back to Labour.

Consider Blackpool South, a seaside district in the north, where Labour won a Tory-held seat in a special election on Thursday. In 2016, the wider Blackpool region had voted in favor of Brexit by 67.5 percent.

Professor Goodwin faulted the Conservatives for not moving more aggressively to cut immigration. These results, he said, “underline just how much they’ve lost touch with the post-Brexit political realignment.”

To other analysts, however, Mr. Sunak’s struggles are evidence that this realignment was always something of a mirage. In the Conservative Party’s heartland in the south — known as the “blue wall” — voters want low taxes and stable government. Some are turned off by the anti-immigrant tone of the Rwanda policy.

These more free-market, socially liberal priorities are often at odds with what many voters in the Midlands and the North want. And that has confronted Mr. Sunak with a dilemma, the political equivalent of squaring the circle.

“He’s being asked to pursue two different strategies at the same time,” said Robert Hayward, a Conservative member of the House of Lords and polling expert. “Dealing with the blue wall on one side and the red wall on the other. And it’s not easy to identify a common strategy that will tackle both of them.”

Stephen Castle contributed reporting.

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades. More about Mark Landler

PMQs sketch: Rishi Sunak capsized by defecting Dover MP Natalie Elphicke as Labour celebrates election wins

Rishi Sunak was stood beside the Speaker’s chair, his foot tapping the green carpet as he waited to take his place for PMQs , when he glanced across to the Labour benches.

In the Prime Minister’s eyeline was sat an unwelcome surprise. 

Sir Keir Starmer had pulled off a proper ambush in getting a second Conservative MP to defect in a fortnight, days after the Tories lost 474 councillors in English local elections .

First up had been Dan Poulter, a doctor and MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich who joined Labour in anger over the Government’s handling of the NHS.

Now it was the turn of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke , who was occupying a new perch directly behind Sir Keir in the Commons. Staring at her with disbelief, and no little anger, was Jonathan Gullis, who as Tory deputy chairman fills the role of Mr Sunak’s chief attack dog.

In a blistering statement announcing her move, Ms Elphicke condemned the Prime Minister’s handling of the small boats crisis and called for a general election to “move on from the broken promises of Rishi Sunak’s tired and chaotic Government”.

Helpfully, that was very much her new leader’s pitch as Sir Keir laid into the PM about the local elections, which included a third consecutive defeat for the Conservatives in the London mayoral election when Sadiq Khan romped home against Susan Hall.

The Labour leader said: “He’s also lost 1,500 Tory councillors [over successive elections], half of his party’s mayors and a leadership election to a lettuce. How many more times do the public and his own MPs need to reject him before he takes the hint?” 

Mr Sunak ruefully acknowledged the losses from last Thursday, which included Andy Street, the Tory mayor of West Midlands, but tried to turn defence to attack.

“Great leaders like Andy Street who leave behind a strong legacy of more homes, more jobs, and more investment, in sharp contrast to the legacy left by the last Labour government, which was a letter joking that there was no money left,” he said.

In a non-answer to a question about the small boats, Mr Sunak disputed Sir Keir’s boasts of a “changed Labour Party” as he alleged that Mr Khan had posited “an equivalence between the brutal terrorist attack of Hamas and Israel defending itself”.

The Labour Mayor’s camp retorted that in his comments to the Daily Telegraph after he was sworn in for a third term at City Hall, Mr Khan had said “you’ve got to show equivalence” by condemning “all killing of innocent civilians”, no matter by whom.

The PM was all too obviously circumventing the fact that migrants are still crossing the Channel despite the passage of his Rwanda deportation act . Forced to answer when the question about rising numbers this year was posed again, he pointed to them falling by one-third last year from 2022. 

Behind Sir Keir, Ms Elphicke shook her head angrily. Like Mr Poulter, she intends to stand down at the next election, so it was a risk-free move to cross the Commons floor.

Still, it was not a great look for the PM, coming after the disastrous local elections. He looks in ever-more need of a political life raft.

Then again, Sir Keir’s open arms welcome to the right-of-centre Dover MP did not find favour with everyone in the Labour family.

Left-winger John McDonnell told LBC: “I'm a great believer in the powers of conversion, but I think even this one would have strained the generosity of spirit of John the Baptist, quite honestly.”

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