Who is Rishi Sunak, top contender for UK PM after Boris Johnson resigns

Boris Johnson resigns: Rishi Sunak, who resigned as UK Finance Minister two days ago, could be the top contender for the next British Prime Minister after Boris Johnson quit for the top post on Thursday.

Boris Johnson resigned as UK Prime Minister followed after a series of resignations from his ministers who sailed him through thick and thin times of his tenure but finally said it had become too much.

Two days back, in his resignation letter, British-Indian Rishi Sunak told Johnson “it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different. The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning," he wrote.

Prime Minister Johnson had won a vote of confidence in his leadership last month. 

Who is Rishi Sunak, British-Indian politician, top contender for next UK Prime Minister

1. Rishi Sunak was, until recently, widely regarded as the party’s brightest rising star, the best-known of potential leadership contenders — and the bookies’ favorite to succeed Johnson.
2. Sunak, 42, was thrust into the spotlight when he became treasury chief in 2020, tasked with the unenviable job of steering the economy through its worst economic slump on record because of the pandemic.
3. He dished out billions of pounds in emergency spending to help businesses and workers, and his policies have generally been seen in a positive light.
4. But “partygate” changed those fortunes. Like Johnson, he was issued a police fine for attending a lockdown-flouting birthday party at Downing Street in June 2020.
5. Rishi Sunak has also come under heavy criticism for being slow to respond to Britain’s severe cost-of-living crisis.
6. Born to Indian parents who moved to the UK from East Africa, Sunak attended the exclusive Winchester College private school and studied at Oxford.
7. Some see his elite education and past work for the investment bank Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund as a deficit because he seems out of touch with ordinary voters.
8. Rishi Sunak is married to British-Indian fashion designer Akshata Murthy, daughter of founder of the Indian multi-national IT company Infosys.
9. Sunak also faced pressure following revelations that his wife, Akshata Murthy, avoided paying U.K. taxes on her overseas income, and that the former investment banker held on to his U.S. green card while serving in government.
10. The 42-year-old British Indian minister posted his resignation letter on Twitter soon after another senior Cabinet colleague, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, resigned.

ALSO READ | Boris Johnson resignation: From Brexit to Partygate, controversies that ensured British PM's downfall
ALSO READ | Boris Johnson resigns as UK Prime Minister, says 'sad to be giving up the best job in the world'

Latest World News