Finance
Rishi Sunak was set to become the first Asian Prime Minister on Monday, less than two months after losing the race to become the Conservative Party and UK leader.
Sunak, who had thrown his hat back into the ring after Liz Truss’s abrupt resignation – barely a month and a half after she had beaten him to succeed Boris Johnson – was the only contestant to replace her on Monday after rival Penny Mordaunt dropped out due to a lack of necessary support.
prominent Pakistani ancestry Conservative MPs backed Sunak for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. While prominent Indian-origin MPs backed Boris Johnson.
Sajid Javid, the former home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer in the British government, and Rehman Chishti, a former junior minister, were among those who had lined up behind Sunak.
Rishi Sunak was born in the Southhampton area of the United Kingdom to an Indian family. He is the son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father. His grandparents are Punjabis.
Sunak is a Stanford and Oxford University graduate. He is married to Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy. The couple married in 2009 and has two daughters, Anoushka and Krishna.
Sunak was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Richmond, Yorkshire, in 2015. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party and advocated for “Brexit.” Sunak was a supporter of Johnson’s ‘leave the EU’ campaign.
He made history in February 2020 when he was named Chancellor of the Exchequer, the most important position in the UK Cabinet.
Sunak rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for his economic package to assist employees and businesses, which included a jobs retention program that reportedly prevented mass unemployment in the UK.
Source:OCN
