Things you probably didn’t know about new UK PM Rishi Sunak

Things you probably didn’t know about new UK PM Rishi Sunak

British politician Rishi Sunak has become the United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure the necessary 100 nominations from her fellow members of Parliament (MPs).

Sunak won the support of an overwhelming majority of the Conservative Party MPs and became the first non-white PM, enabling him to claim the keys to No 10 (the official residence of the UK PM).

He emerged as the PM following the resignation of former PM, Liz Truss last Thursday.

Below are some things you need to know about Sunak:

Sunak was born on 12th May, 1980 in Southampton, England to Indian parents – Yashvir and Usha Sunak who migrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s.

He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford (2001) and had a Master’s in Business Administration at Stanford University, USA (2006).

In August 2009, Sunak married Akshata Murthy, the daughter of the Indian billionaire N.R Narayana Murthy, the founder of a technology company, Infosys.

Sunak introduced a programme which provided £330 billion in emergency support for businesses as a furlough scheme for employees on March 17, 2020.

Also, Rishi Sunak was the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) from February 13 2020 – July 5 2022 under Boris Johnson’s government.