The United Kingdom will vote on July 4 in a snap general election called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. With his Conservative Party trailing Labor by 21 points in the latest polls, Sunak faces an uphill task to maintain his party’s 14-year power and his own position as Prime Minister.
Here are some facts about the current British Prime Minister:
1. Rishi Sunak was born on May 12, 1980, in Southampton, England. His grandparents were all born in India, but migrated to East Africa in search of work and eventually settled in the United Kingdom. Sunak went to Winchester College, a private boarding school in England and later graduated from Oxford University. He did his MBA from Stanford University, where he met his wife, Akshata Murty, daughter of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy. They married in 2009 and have two daughters together.
2. Before venturing into politics, Mr Sunak had a successful career in finance. He worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs from 2001 to 2004 before becoming a partner at The Children’s Investment Fund Management in 2006. In 2010, he moved to Theleme Partners, another hedge fund management firm. He also served as a director of Catamaran Ventures, an investment company owned by his father-in-law.
3. Mr. Sunak’s political career began in 2014, when he was chosen as the Conservative candidate for Richmond (Yorks). In 2015, he was elected deputy for Richmond (Yorks), receiving 36.2% of the vote. His political rise continued as he held several government positions, including Minister for Local Government in 2018, Chief Secretary to the Treasury in 2019, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022.
4. In October 2022, Mr Sunak made history when King Charles III appointed him as the first British Prime Minister of Hindu and Indian origin. Elected unopposed as leader of the Conservative Party on Diwali, he became the youngest British prime minister in 210 years at age 42.
5. As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sunak was not without controversy. In May 2024, he proposed restricting the UK’s post-study visa, which drew opposition from cabinet members. In 2022, Sunak faced a tax scandal surrounding his wife’s non-domicile status. In the same year, he was involved in another controversy over his possession of a US green card while serving as a minister in the British government. Sunak has also faced criticism for his role in the Partygate scandal, receiving a fixed penalty notice for attending a birthday party for Boris Johnson during lockdown in 2020.
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
