Rishi Sunak His parents came to the UK from east Africa and are both of Indian origin. Mr Sunak was born in Southampton in 1980, where his father was a GP and his mother ran a pharmacy. He is now set to be the first British Asian prime minister.
Mr Sunak was first elected as an MP in 2015 – for Richmond in north Yorkshire – but rose quickly, and was made finance minster – or chancellor – in February 2020 under Boris Johnson.
As Mr Johnson’s chancellor, Mr Sunak was behind the financial aid during lockdowns – including furlough payments and the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme for restaurants.
His wife is Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy. Mr Sunak himself has worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and at two hedge funds. The Sunday Times Rich List estimates the couple’s fortune to be worth about £730m.
Over the summer, it emerged Akshata Murthy paid no UK tax on big earnings abroad – which is legal. Mr Sunak defended his wife saying, “to smear my wife to get at me is awful” – but eventually she agreed to start paying extra taxes. We also found out he temporarily had a US green card, allowing him to live permanently in America while he was the UK’s chancellor.
“Free ports” are one of his long-time favourite ideas: areas near ports or airports where goods can be imported and exported without paying taxes, to encourage trade.
