Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since February 2020. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Chancellor Sajid Javid from July 2019 to February 2020. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) since the 2015 general election.

The Right Honourable

Rishi Sunak

MP
Sunak in 2017
Chancellor of the Exchequer
Assumed office
13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded bySajid Javid
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office
24 July 2019 – 12 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byLiz Truss
Succeeded bySteve Barclay
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government
In office
9 January 2018 – 24 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byMarcus Jones
Succeeded byLuke Hall
Member of Parliament
for Richmond (Yorks)
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byWilliam Hague
Majority27,210 (47.2%)
Personal details
Born (1980-05-12) 12 May 1980
Southampton, Hampshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Akshata Murthy
(
m. 2009)
Children2
RelativesN. R. Narayana Murthy (father-in-law)
EducationWinchester College
Alma materLincoln College, Oxford (BA)
Stanford University (MBA)

Born in Southampton, Hampshire, to a Indian Punjabi Hindu and East African family, his early education was at Winchester College. Sunak subsequently studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Lincoln College, Oxford, and later gained an MBA from Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating, he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at hedge fund management firm The Children's Investment Fund Management.

Early life and education

Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, Hampshire,[1][2] to Yashvir and Usha Sunak.[3] He is the eldest of three siblings.[4] His father Yashvir was born in Kenya and his mother Usha was born in Tanzania. They are both Hindus.[5] His grandparents were born in Punjab, India, and emigrated from East Africa with their children to the UK in the 1960s.[6] Yashvir was a general practitioner (GP), and Usha was a pharmacist who ran a local pharmacy.[1][3][7]

Sunak attended Winchester College, an all-boys' public boarding school, where he was head boy.[8] He waited tables at a curry house in Southampton during his summer holidays.[5][9] He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, graduating with a First in 2001.[1][8] In 2006, he obtained an MBA from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright scholar.[1][10][11]

Business career

Sunak worked as an analyst for investment bank Goldman Sachs between 2001 and 2004.[1][12] He then worked for hedge fund management firm The Children's Investment Fund Management, becoming a partner in September 2006.[13] He left in November 2009[14] to join former colleagues at new hedge fund firm Theleme Partners, which launched in October 2010 with an initial $700 million.[15][16][17] Sunak was also a director of investment firm Catamaran Ventures, owned by his father-in-law, Indian businessman N. R. Narayana Murthy.[12][18]

Political career

Member of Parliament

Sunak was selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks) in October 2014. The seat had previously been held by William Hague, a former leader of the party, Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State, who chose to stand down at the following general election.[8] The seat is one of the safest Conservative seats in the United Kingdom and has been held by the party for over 100 years.[19] In the same year Sunak was head of the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Research Unit of centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, for which he co-wrote a report on BME communities in the UK.[20] He was elected as MP for the constituency in the 2015 general election with a majority of 19,550 (36.2%).[21] During the 2015–2017 parliament he was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.[22]

He supported the UK leaving the European Union (EU) in the June 2016 membership referendum.[23] That year he wrote a report for the Centre for Policy Studies (a Thatcherite think tank) supporting the establishment of free ports after Brexit, and the following year wrote a report advocating for the creation of a retail bond market for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).[24][25][26]

Sunak was re-elected as MP in the 2017 general election, with an increased majority of 23,108 (40.5%).[27] He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Local Government between January 2018 and July 2019.[22] Sunak voted for then-Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement and voted against a referendum on any withdrawal agreement.[28] He supported Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election and co-wrote an article in The Times newspaper with fellow MPs Robert Jenrick, and Oliver Dowden to advocate for Johnson during the campaign in June.[29][30]

He was re-elected in the 2019 general election with an increased majority of 27,210 (47.2%).[31] During the election campaign, Sunak represented the Conservatives in both the BBC's and ITV's seven-way election debates.[32][33]

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Sunak was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 24 July 2019 and served under Chancellor Sajid Javid until February 2020.[34] He became a member of the Privy Council the next day.[35]

Chancellor of the Exchequer

In the weeks leading up to Sunak's appointment as Chancellor, a number of briefings in the press had suggested that a new economic ministry led by Sunak might be established, to reduce the power and political influence of Chancellor Sajid Javid at the Treasury. Sunak was considered to be a Johnson loyalist, favoured by Dominic Cummings, and seen as the "rising star" minister who had ably represented the Prime Minister during the 2019 election debates.[36][37] By February 2020, it was reported that Javid would remain in his role as Chancellor and that Sunak would stay on as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in order for the Prime Minister's Chief Adviser, Cummings, to "keep an eye" on Javid.[38]

Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer on 13 February 2020 as part of a cabinet reshuffle, after the resignation of his predecessor, Chancellor Javid, on the same day.[39][40] Javid had resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer following a meeting with Prime Minister Johnson. During the meeting, Johnson had offered to keep his position on the condition that he fire all of his advisers at the Treasury, to be replaced with individuals selected by Cummings. Upon resigning, Javid told the Press Association that "no self-respecting minister would accept those terms".[41][42] Political commentators saw Sunak's appointment as signalling the end of the Treasury's independence from Downing Street, with Robert Shrimsley, chief political commentator of the Financial Times, arguing that "good government often depends on senior ministers – and the Chancellor in particular – being able to fight bad ideas".[43]

Sunak's first budget took place on 11 March 2020.[44] This included an announcement of £30 billion of additional spending of which £12 billion was allocated for mitigation of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.[45] Shortly after, Sunak announced £330 billion in emergency support for businesses,[46] as well as a salary subsidy scheme for employees. This was the first time a British government had created such an employee retention scheme.[47][48] In July, he unveiled a plan for a further £30 billion of spending which included a stamp duty holiday, a cut to VAT for the hospitality sector, and a job retention bonus for employers.[49][50]

Personal life

Sunak married Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian billionaire and co-founder of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murthy, in August 2009.[8] They met while studying at Stanford University and have two daughters.[8][10] Sunak is a Hindu,[6] and has taken his oath at the House of Commons on the Bhagavad Gita since 2017.[51][52] He is teetotal and, in keeping with his faith, does not eat beef.[4][6] He was previously a governor of the East London Science School.[20]

gollark: Are you using "pulseaudio" or something?
gollark: Actually, you should DIY transcranial magnetic stimulation by waving extremely strong magnets around near your head randomly.
gollark: That sounds incredibly safe, yes.
gollark: Cryonic preservation. It's the only way.
gollark: Apparently this actually varies lots by culture.

References
  1. "Sunak, Rt Hon. Rishi (born 12 May 1980)". A & C Black. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2019. (subscription required)
  2. Espiner, Tom (13 February 2020). "Who is the new chancellor Rishi Sunak?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  3. Gunn, Simon; Bell, Rachel (16 June 2011). Middle Classes: Their Rise and Sprawl. Orion. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-78022-073-4.
  4. Hooker, Lucy; Espiner, Tom (10 July 2020). "Rishi Sunak: The 'whatever it takes' chancellor". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  5. Judah, Ben (27 May 2020). "Take a Chancellor on me: Inside the world of Rishi Sunak". Tatler. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. Puri, Anjali (10 August 2015). "UK Cabinet member Rishi Sunak on being British, Indian & Hindu at same time". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  7. "Rishi Sunak". Eastern Eye. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  8. Roy, Amit (20 October 2014). "Murthy son-in-law gets Hague's seat". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  9. Slade, Darren (9 July 2020). "Rishi Sunak's mini-budget: Hampshire reaction". Andover Advertiser. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  10. "Sudha-Narayana Murthy's son-in-law Rishi Sunak wins polls as Conservative party member". The Economic Times. 9 May 2015. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. Kounteya Sinha (9 May 2015). "Narayana Murthy's son-in-law Rishi Sunak enters British parliament with a thumping victory". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  12. "Quite positive that Rishi will do well as a MP, says Murthy". Business Standard. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  13. Hutchings, William (24 January 2007). "TCI adds four partners". Financial News. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  14. "Rishi Sunak". FCA. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  15. "Ex-TCI star emerges at rival". Financial Times. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.(subscription required)
  16. "Star analyst's new fund raises $700m". Financial Times. 25 October 2010. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019. (subscription required)
  17. "Tomorrow's Titans" (PDF). The Hedge Fund Journal. p. 9. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  18. Sood, Varun (12 February 2019). "Narayana Murthy far behind Azim Premji in family office stakes". Livemint. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  19. The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2019. Glasgow: Times Books. 2020. p. 310. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1.
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  21. "Richmond (Yorks)". parliament.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  22. "Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  23. "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  24. Armitage, Jim (19 February 2020). "Business focus: Fears grow over new Chancellor's tax-lite free ports push". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  25. Sunak, Rishi (November 2017). "A New Era for Retail Bonds" (PDF). Centre for Policy Studies. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  26. Sunak, Rishi (21 November 2017). "Rishi Sunak: A better Budget way for SMEs to access cash for growth". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  27. "Richmond (Yorks)". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  28. "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.(subscription required)
  29. Sunak, Rishi; Jenrick, Robert; Dowden, Oliver (5 June 2019). "The Tories are in deep peril. Only Boris Johnson can save us". The Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2020.(subscription required)
  30. Zeffmann, Henry; Elliott, Francis (5 June 2019). "Moderates back Boris Johnson to be next prime minister". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2020.(subscription required)
  31. "Richmond (Yorks)". BBC News. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
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  33. Mason, Rowena (1 December 2019). "ITV election debate: the winners and the losers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  34. "Full list of new ministerial and government appointments: July 2019". gov.uk. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  35. "Orders Approved and Business Transacted at the Privy Council Held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 25th July 2019" (PDF). Privy Council Office. 2019. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  36. Parker, George (25 December 2019). "Johnson's 'favourite minister' tipped to run super-ministry". Financial Times.
  37. Balls, Katy (13 February 2020). "Is Sajid Javid at war with No. 10?". The Spectator.
  38. Mason, Rowena (5 February 2020). "Ministers jostle as Johnson plans long-awaited reshuffle". The Guardian.
  39. "Cabinet reshuffle: Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor". BBC News. 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
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  41. Mason, Rowena (13 February 2020). "Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor amid Johnson reshuffle". The Guardian.
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  43. Shrimsley, Robert (13 February 2020). "Johnson has backed Cummings over his chancellor — and there will be a cost". Financial Times.(subscription required)
  44. Heffer, Greg (18 February 2020). "Budget 2020 to remain on 11 March, new Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirms". Sky News. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
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  46. "Coronavirus: Chancellor unveils £350bn lifeline for economy". BBC News. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  47. "Coronavirus: Government to pay up to 80% of workers' wages". BBC News. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
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  49. Inman, Phillip; Proctor, Kate (8 July 2020). "Rishi Sunak unveils stamp duty holiday and hospitality VAT cut". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
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  51. Hundal, Sunny (23 June 2017). "Democracies can be strengthened by equal representation in Parliament". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  52. Sonwalkar, Prasun (18 December 2019). "Indian-origin lawmakers Alok Sharma, Rishi Sunak take oath on Bhagwad Gita in UK's House of Commons". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
William Hague		 Member of Parliament
for Richmond (Yorks)
2015–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Liz Truss		 Chief Secretary to the Treasury
2019–2020		 Succeeded by
Stephen Barclay
Preceded by
Sajid Javid		 Chancellor of the Exchequer
2020–present		 Incumbent
Second Lord of the Treasury
2020–present
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