Who is Rishi Sunak, the qualifier for the UK PM race?
Born in the UK’s Southampton area to an Indian family, Rishi Sunak is the son of a pharmacist mother and a National Health Service (NHS) general practitioner (GP) father.
His grandparents are from Punjab. According to reports, Sunak’s family migrated to seek a better life in East Africa, but when the trouble started in the region amid widespread sentiments against Indians, his grandfather shifted base to Britain.
Sunak is an Oxford University and Stanford graduate.
He is married to Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s daughter, Akshata Murty.
The couple who tied the knot in 2009 has two daughters, Anoushka and Krishna.
Sunak first became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 2015 after he got elected from Richmond, Yorkshire. He swiftly rose through the ranks of the Conservative party and supported calls for ‘Brexit.’
Sunak was among Johnson’s supporters during his ‘leave EU’ campaign.
He created history in February 2020 when he was designated as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which is the most important UK Cabinet post.
Sunak became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic for his economic package to support employees and businesses, comprising a job retention programme, which reportedly averted mass unemployment in the UK.
Boris Johnson flies to London
Rishi Sunak, a British Conservative MP, achieved the required number of votes to run for party leader late Friday, just as former prime minister Boris Johnson planned an ambitious comeback.
Following the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss, the UK’s ruling party was forced into a second leadership campaign. Cabinet member Penny Mordaunt was the first to formally register her candidacy.
Tobias Ellwood, a senior backbencher, tweeted, “Honored to be the 100th Tory MP to endorse #Ready4Rishi,” while other supporters of Sunak claimed he had also reached the milestone.
If Sunak’s opponents are unable to secure 100 nominations from their fellow Tory MPs, Sunak will automatically become the party leader and prime minister.
After Johnson was overthrown in July, security minister Tom Tugendhat, who himself stood for office, made a veiled plea to the disgraced former leader to withdraw from the election.
Tugendhat praised Sunak late on Friday, saying, “This is no time for political games, for settling scores, or for looking backward.”
Johnson and Sunak have not openly declared their candidacy.
Johnson, though, cut short his Caribbean vacation to take part in the hurried election, which will see Tory MPs vote on Monday before potentially holding an online vote for party members the following week.
One of Johnson’s closest parliamentary allies, James Duddridge, claimed to have used WhatsApp to communicate with his former employer.
“We’re going to do this,” he said. “I’m ready for it.” The MP made the statement as a Sky News reporter published a picture purportedly showing Johnson on a flight from the Dominican Republic back to the UK.
