a son of indian immigrants in africa He became the first Asian to be British Prime Minister from the Conservative Party. Former finance chancellor under the Boris Johnson government, Rishi Sunak was the one who brought him down with his resignation letter and denied him a deal on Saturday, in this new race for 10 Downing St.
During his tenure, he will face a deep recession in the kingdomwith companies in crisis, intense inflationary pressure and high interest rates and a society changing their consumption habitsas in 1970, given the extremely high cost of living.
Economist, billionaire, he is married to Murthy, daughter of one of the richest men in India and together they have a fortune of more than 1.2 billion dollars.
He was the chancellor in the Covid pandemic, the inventor of the Furlough (license permits) that kept businesses and families afloat. A pragmatic, that today must agree with a conservative party divided and at warto be able to govern and put the kingdom’s economy in order.
“I believe that people should be judged by their character and not by their bank accounts,” he said in his defense, when accused of being a billionaire.
child of immigration
Rishi Sunak was born on May 12, 1980 in Southampton, England. His grandparents emigrated from Punjab, northwestern India, to eastern Africa, where his mother and father were born. in Tanzania and Kenya, respectively.
His parents met and married after their families emigrated in the 1960s to Southampton, in the south of England.
Sunak’s father became a general practitioner for the National Health Service. His mother, a pharmacist, owned and ran a small pharmacy, from which Sunak, the eldest of his three children, eventually I would take the books.
Later, during his political career, Sunak would draw parallels between his experiences working in the family business and the values he gained from them and from Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a grocer, who became an icon of the Conservative Party.
“I grew up watching my parents serve our local community with dedication. My father was an NHS GP and my mother ran her own local pharmacy. I wanted to make that same positive difference to people as a Member of Parliament and was first elected to represent this wonderful constituency in 2015 and re-elected in 2017 and 2019. I live in Kirby Sigston just outside Northallerton,” Sunak wrote in his political presentation.
exquisite education
As a result of his parents’ sacrifices and savings to finance his education, Sunak was able to attend Winchester College, the exclusive private school that has produced no fewer than six Chancellors of the Exchequer. During the summer holidays he waited tables in an Indian restaurant in Southampton.
Sunak went on to study philosophy, politics and economics (the title held by many future prime ministers) at Lincoln College, Oxford. There he was president of the Oxford Trading & Investment Society, which gave students the opportunity to learn about financial markets and global trading.
While at Oxford, Sunak also interned at the Conservative Party headquarters.
California and mutual funds
After graduating from Oxford in 2001, Sunak became Goldman Sachs analyst and worked for the investment banking company until 2004.
As a Fulbright scholar, he went on to earn an MBA from Stanford University, where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, hija de Narayana Murthy, Indian billionaire and co-founder of the tech giant Infosys.
Returning to the UK in 2006, Sunak worked at The Children’s Investment Fund Management (TCI), the fund operated by Sir Chris Hohn, who made him a partner about two years later. In 2009, Sunak left TCI to join another investment fund, Theleme Partners. That year he married Murthy; They have two daughters.
By virtue of Sunak’s success in business and his wife’s 0.91 percent stake in Infosys, the couple began to accumulate a considerable fortune, which The Sunday Times would estimate to be around $877 million in 2022. Some sources estimated Akshata Murthy’s net worth to be $1.2 billion.
“I have been fortunate to enjoy a successful business career. I co-founded a large investment firm, working with companies from Silicon Valley to Bangalore,” Sunak wrote.
“Then,” he added, “I used that experience to help small, entrepreneurial British businesses grow up successfully. From working in my mom’s small pharmacy to my experience building large companies, I’ve seen firsthand how politicians must support free enterprise and innovation to guarantee our future prosperity.”
William Hague’s bench, in 2010
Sunak began working for the Conservative Party. In 2014, Sunak was elected as the Conservative Party’s candidate for the House of Commons representing Richmond in North Yorkshire, a safe Conservative seat in the north of England, long held by the party’s longtime leader, William Hague.
In May 2015, Sunak was elected by an absolute majority. He took office as a eurosceptic y He strongly supported leaving Europe.
It would make the UK “freer, fairer and more prosperous”. He would be re-elected to Parliament in 2017 and 2019, and voted three times in favor of the Brexit plans of Prime Minister Theresa May.
The chancellor of the pandemic
Sunak became a strong supporter of Boris Johnson’s quest for party leadership. When Johnson became leader and prime minister, he rewarded Sunak with a promotion, appointing him chief secretary of the treasury in July 2019.
During Sunak’s tenure as second-in-command at the Treasury Ministry, tensions rose between his boss, finance chancellor Sajid Javid, and Johnson. When Javid stepped down in February 2020, Johnson replaced him with Sunak, who, at 39, became the fourth youngest person to hold that position.
Almost immediately, Sunak was faced with multiple challenges brought on by the arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic in Britain.
As the UK economy has been hit by government-imposed lockdowns in a bid to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, became a Keynesian. To the horror of many of his party he believed that the state should keep the companies and the family so as not to completely destroy the country’s economy and pay off the debt afterwards.
But he was punished for having participated in the parties of Downing St and they accused him when his wife did not pay taxes in Great Britain. There began the dramas of him with Boris Johnson. The Sunaks moved from Downing St to his house in Kensington, following the allegations.
critics call it “Slicky Rishi”. Everyone envies his elegance, his handmade shirts and his Prada or Church shoes. Sunak is justified.
“My parents sacrificed a lot so that I could attend good schools. I was lucky enough to study at Winchester College, Oxford University and Stanford University. That experience changed my life, and as a result, I am passionate about ensuring everyone has access to a great education,” he wrote.
He added: “I have been a school principal, a board member of a large youth club and have always volunteered my time for educational programs that spread opportunities.”
“I have been lucky enough to live, study and work internationally. I met my wife, Akshata, in California, where we lived for several years before returning home. We have two daughtersKrishna and Anoushka, who keep us busy and entertained”, he said in his political presentation.
Magnanimous
On the most important day of his political career, Rishi Sunak was magnanimous with his opponent, Boris Johnson, and he thanked him.
“Boris Johnson delivered Brexit and the big vaccine launch,” he wrote on Twitter. “He led our country through some of the most difficult challenges we have ever faced, and then he took on Putin and his barbaric war in Ukraine. We will always be grateful to him for that.”
He also wrote that he genuinely hopes the former prime minister “continues to contribute to public life at home and abroad.”
It is not known whether Boris received an offer, will accept to be foreign minister or Rishi Sunak’s special envoy to Ukraine or will wait his turn again.
Paris, correspondent
ap