Rishi Sunak: The rise of a young politician

Early life and family

Rishi Sunak was born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, England. His parents were Indian immigrants who had come to the UK from East Africa. Sunak’s father was a doctor and his mother was a pharmacist. Sunak has two older sisters. He was educated at Winchester College and Lincoln College, Oxford, where he studied philosophy, politics and economics.

Career in finance

After graduating from Oxford, Sunak worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. He later moved to The Children's Investment Fund Management, a hedge fund. In 2009, Sunak co-founded a hedge fund management company called Theleme Partners.

Political career

Sunak entered politics in 2015, when he was elected as the Conservative MP for Richmond (Yorks). He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government in 2018. In 2019, Sunak was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In 2020, he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

As Chancellor, Sunak has been responsible for overseeing the UK’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has introduced a number of measures to support businesses and individuals, including the furlough scheme, which has paid the wages of millions of workers who have been unable to work during the pandemic. Sunak has also announced a number of tax cuts and other measures to stimulate the economy.

Controversies

Sunak has been involved in a number of controversies. In 2020, it was revealed that his wife, Akshata Murthy, had non-domiciled status in the UK, which meant that she did not have to pay UK taxes on her overseas income. This led to accusations that Sunak was not doing enough to support the UK economy. Sunak has also been criticized for his handling of the cost of living crisis. In 2022, he announced a number of measures to help people with the rising cost of energy and food, but critics argue that these measures do not go far enough.