Politics

Who is Rishi Sunak? Doctor’s son, 39, whose dad-in-law is Indian billionaire becomes one of UK’s youngest Chancellors


RISING Tory star Rishi Sunak was today named as the new Chancellor by Boris Johnson.

The 39-year-old’s appointment makes him one of the youngest ever to hold the position as the PM announced his dramatic post-Brexit Cabinet reshuffle.

 Married with two daughters, Rishi Sunak has been named Chancellor after a meteoric rise in the Tory party
Married with two daughters, Rishi Sunak has been named Chancellor after a meteoric rise in the Tory party
 Rishi Sunak was named as Chancellor by Boris Johnson
Rishi Sunak was named as Chancellor by Boris JohnsonCredit: AFP or licensors

But who is Rishi Sunak?

MP for Richmond in Yorkshire since 2015, Sunak is the son of Yashvir, an NHS GP, and Usha, a pharmacist, who moved to the UK from Punjab, India in the 1960s.

Born in 1980 in Southampton, Hampshire, he attended the prestigious Winchester College before going on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University.

He also earned an MBA from Stanford University in the US, becoming a Fulbright scholar.

Before entering politics he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund, then co-founded an investment firm.

Seen as a rising star in the Conservative Party, he has been touted for the top since first arriving in Parliament five years ago.

However at the age of 39, he misses out on being the youngest chancellor of the past century by just a single year – George Osborne was 38 when he took charge of the Treasury in 2010.

And before his rise to Chancellor, Tory officials saw he was the “perfect fit” for Johnson’s new Cabinet.

One told the Financial Times: “Rishi is a superstar, he keeps to the line and proved himself to be a calm, able debater.”

This was particularly shown as he started to fill in for Mr Johnson in election TV debates.

During the Brexit campaign, he voted to Leave the EU but kept a relatively low profile during the 2016 referendum and voted for Theresa May’s Brexit deal on all three occasions.

In July 2019, Mr Johnson picked by Mr Johnson to be chief secretary to the Treasury, after he had served as parliamentary under-secretary in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from January 2018 to July 2019.

In 2009, he married Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian billionaire Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy, who co-founded business consulting firm Infosys.

The couple have two daughters together.

The Southampton-raised Cabinet minister lists his hobbies as keeping fit, playing cricket and football and watching films.

He was pictured heading to the cinemas to see Star Wars – with none other but outgoing Chancellor Sajid Javid.

As a Hindu, he takes his Commons oath on the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Sanskrit text.

 Sunak went to Star Wars with Sajid Javid
Sunak went to Star Wars with Sajid JavidCredit: Instagram
Sajid Javid resigned as Chancellor as Boris Johnson wielded the axe in his cabinet reshuffle





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