- Political Profiles: Rishi Sunak – The New Chancellor
- Political Profiles: Keir Starmer
On the 13th of February Rishi Sunak, former chief secretary for the Treasury was appointed to the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer in a shock cabinet reshuffle. Sunak is considered one of the most influential figures in UK politics at the age of 39.
Rishi Sunak replaced Sajid Javid following a reshuffle on the 13th of February 2020. This change came only four weeks before one of the most important events when the Treasury announced its budget. Sajid Javid resigned as chancellor after Boris Johnson asked him to sack all of his advisers which he was unwilling to do.
Sajid Javid endorsed Mr Sunak with a phrase from Disney’s Star Wars franchise in a recent tweet which said: ‘The force is strong with young Sunak‘. Seen as a rising star for the Tories, former Conservative Party Leader Lord Hague of Richmond, described Mr Sunak as an ‘exceptional individual’.
Mr Sunak was born in Southampton 1980, to Yashvir, family NHS GP, and Usha, who ran a local pharmacy. He is the eldest of three siblings. Rishi Sunak was educated at the exclusive Winchester College where he was head boy and went on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford.
After University Sunak worked as an analyst for Goldman Sachs for three years.
Mr Sunak met Akshata Murthy in California and they were married in 2009, they now have two daughters. Sunak has served as the Conservative MP for Richmond in Yorkshire since 2015 and was re-elected in 2019 general election with an increased majority of 27,210 (47.2%).
In the 2016 referendum, Mr Sunak campaigned to leave the EU with 55% of his constituency voting Leave. He supported and voted for Theresa May’s Brexit deal and was an early supporter of Boris Johnson.
His wife Akshata Murthy is the daughter of an Indian billionaire and the co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy a global IT service.
Mr Sunak posted on his website that his hobbies include cricket, football, and keeping fit. He also claims to still own a birthday card from his 18th birthday signed by the entire Southampton FC team and calls it one of his most prized possessions.
