Rishi Sunak, 39, who has earlier served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, under former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, today replaced Javid in a development that took most political observers by surprise.
Sunak, who is the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder and billionaire Narayana Murthy, attended the prestigious Winchester College before going on to read Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Oxford University. He also has a Master’s in business administration from Stanford University in the United States.
Sunak’s father was a doctor with the UK’s National Health Services while his mother ran a chemist shop. He spent considerable time in California, where he met Narayana Murthy’s daughter Akshata and where he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and a hedge fund before co-founding a large investment firm.
Sunak returned to the UK thereafter with his family and was elected an MP, representing Richmond (Yorks). In July 2019, he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury, having entered government service as Minister for Local Government in January 2018 a little after he was elected MP.
An avid movie watcher and fitness enthusiast, with an abiding interest in cricket and football, he and Akhshata have two daughters Krishna and Anoushka.
Earlier, Sajid Javid quit as Chancellor of the Exchequer amidst Boris Johnson’s first major Cabinet reshuffle following a heated argument with Prime Minister Johnson at 10 Downing Street today.
Of Pakistani origin, Javid, who became the first Asian in the UK to become a Cabinet Minister when he was made Secretary of State of Culture, Media, and Sports in the David Cameron government in 2014 after tenures as Economic Secretary to the Treasury (2012-13) and Financial Secretary (2013-14), was also Home Secretary in Prime Minster Theresa May’s government.
