Rishi Sunak is new UK Prime Minister. He’ll be the first British-Asian PM & first Hindu PM, and at 42, the youngest PM in modern times.
Former finance minister Rishi Sunak has been chosen to become Britain’s next prime minister, the third person to assume the mantle this year with the hopes of soothing the political and economic omnishambles left behind from Liz Truss’ brief tenure, after she replaced Boris Johnson.
Sunak, 42, is a relative newcomer to British politics but has risen rapidly through the ranks of the Conservative Party and was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Yorkshire seat of Richmond in 2015.
Since entering Parliament in 2015, he backed Brexit and was named finance minister in 2020 having only entered government as a junior minister in the housing ministry in 2018 and joining the treasury as second-in-command to the finance minister in 2019.
Sunak was promoted to finance minister in 2020, just before the pandemic, and his economic support schemes during lockdown gained him widespread recognition and public support.
He was widely viewed as a surefire contender to replace Johnson as Conservative leader one day, though his popularity plummeted following a series of politically unpopular policies, involvement in the lawbreaking “Partygate” scandal of government rule breaking during lockdown and after news emerged that his wealthy wife avoided millions in tax by claiming non-domicile status.
Sunak kick-started the spate of government resignations that ultimately ousted Johnson and was runner up to Truss in the race to replace him with a campaign slogan of “Ready for Rishi” (evidently, voters were not ready).
Sunak, born in Southampton in the south of England to parents of Indian origin who emigrated to the U.K. from east Africa, will be the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years and the country’s first South Asian leader.