Rishi Sunak: All you need to know about UK’s youngest Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak was announced the leader of Britain’s Conservative Party Monday afternoon following Liz Truss’s resignation on Thursday after a turbulent 44-day tenure in office as British Prime Minister.

The PUNCH reports that the 1922 Committee chairman, Sir Graham Brady, announced that Sunak was the only nomination received by the committee after Penny Mordaunt withdrew from the Tory’s leadership race.

Here are some things to know about Rishi Sunak, who is the youngest Prime Minister of the UK:

Age

Sunak was born on May 12, 1980; he is currently 42 years old.

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Sunak is the youngest Prime Minister of the UK in modern times.

Origins

Sunak was born to Hindu parents of Punjabi descent. His father is Yashvir and his mother, Usha.

Sunak’s father, Yashvir was born and raised in Kenya and worked as a general practitioner in the NHS, while his mum was born in Tanzania and worked as a pharmacist, running a pharmacy.

Sunak is the eldest of three siblings.

However, Sunak is originally from Southampton.

Education

Sunak attended the prestigious Winchester College; and subsequently Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.

He then proceeded to Ivy League college, Stanford University in California, where he earned an MBA as a Fulbright Scholar.

Political career

Sunak was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks) in October 2014, defeating Wendy Morton. The seat was previously held by William Hague, a former leader of the party, Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State.

In the same year Sunak was head of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, for which he co-wrote a report on BME communities in the UK.

He was elected as MP for the constituency at the 2015 general election with a majority of 19,550 (36.2%).

Together they hold an estimated net worth of £730 million, making them among the richest people in the UK and earning Sunak the unofficial title of “the richest MP”.

The couple have two daughters, Krishna and Anoushka.

Policies

Sunak put immigration and the NHS at the top of his agenda when he was running against Liz Truss.

He spoke of linking migration with foreign policy – countries who collaborate with the UK on the return of migrants would be rewarded with aid, trade and visas.

He also proposed to charge the public £10 for missed GP appointments in order to help the huge NHS backlog following the pandemic.

However, he now has more of a financial crisis on his hands. Punch