A Glance At Rishi Sunak- 42-Year-Old Britain’s New Prime Minister
Sunak
LAGOS OCTOBER 24TH (NEWSRANGERS)-After Liz Truss’s chaotic six weeks in charge, Boris Johnson’s aborted comeback mission, and Penny Mordaunt’s failure to secure enough Tory backers,
42-year-old Sunak is now at the helm of a country desperately in need of some stability.
Let’s take a look at how he got here.
‘’I don’t just offer change. I don’t just offer grip. I’m offering hope.”
Southampton-born Sunak is the UK’s first prime minister of Indian descent.
His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies moved to the country to help it rebuild after the Second World War.
Sunak attended the exclusive private school Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University, and then got an MBA from Stanford University.
It was there he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy, founder of IT services giant Infosys.
Before entering politics, Sunak worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, and was later a partner in two hedge funds.
He is thought to be one of the richest members of parliament, and his wealth and private school background have come into focus during TV debates.
Sunak was elected to parliament in 2015 and had a swift rise within the Conservative Party.
He campaigned for Leave in the EU referendum.
By 2020, aged only 39, Sunak was named finance minister by Boris Johnson.
‘’Delighted to be appointed, lots to get on with, thank you very much.’’
Within weeks after becoming chancellor, Sunak found himself having to steer the UK economy as the COVID-19 pandemic began.
He pledged to do “whatever it takes” to help people through the pandemic and developed a popular furlough scheme to support millions of people through multiple lockdowns.
He was also behind the ‘Eat out to Help Out’ initiative to boost the struggling hospitality sector in summer 2020.
That included waiting tables at a central London eatery.
In April 2022, Sunak had to deal with the fallout of being fined by police for breaking lockdown rules in Downing Street in June 2020.
In that same month, he and his family’s finances came under intense scrutiny.
It was revealed that his wife Akshata Murthy, who is an Indian citizen, had not been paying British tax on her foreign income through her “non-domiciled” status.
The status is available to foreign nationals who do not see Britain as their permanent home.
‘’She’s always followed all the rules, paid all the tax in the UK that is due, and paid tax internationally on her international investments. But she recognizes this goes beyond just following those rules.’’
The revelations hurt Sunak ahead of his race against Liz Truss.
Sunak eventually resigned as chancellor in July 2022, a move that contributed to the downfall of Johnson as Tory leader and prime minister.
During the race to replace his former boss, Sunak lost out to Truss in the last leadership contest.
While some choose to label the multi-millionaire as “out of touch,” others believe Sunak is the person to bring some calm to the economy.
After all, he was proven right in his warnings that Truss’s fiscal plan threatened financial stability.
Sunak has pledged to bring ‘’integrity, professionalism and accountability’’ to government.
But he has a mountain to climb to try to restore or renew the reputation of the Conservative Party following one of the most turbulent periods in British political history.
Reuters
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Posted by News Rangers
on Oct 24 2022. Filed under International, National.
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