Rishi Sunak
Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister on 25 October 2022. He was previously appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer from 13 February 2020 to 5 July 2022. He was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 24 July 2019 to 13 February 2020, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from 9 January 2018 to 24 July 2019. His tenure as Prime Minister has focused on addressing economic challenges, navigating Brexit-related issues, and responding to global events.
Suna called a national election on July 4 which opinion polls indicate will end 14 years of Conservative Party-led government. Opinion polls show the opposition Labour Party more than 20 points ahead of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives. Pollster YouGov has projected Labour could win 425 seats, with Conservatives on 108, which would mark the lowest number of seats won by the party in its near 200-year history. The former investment banker and finance minister took office less than two years ago, and since then has struggled to define what he stands for, becoming increasingly frustrated that what he sees as his successes have failed to be appreciated.
Ending months of speculation as to when he would call a new poll, Sunak, 44, stood outside his Downing Street office : 22 May 2024 and announced he was calling the election earlier than some had expected, a risky strategy with his party behind in the polls. “Now is the moment for Britain to choose its future,” he said, listing what he considers to be the highlights of his time in government, including the introduction of the so-called furlough scheme that helped businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. “We will have a general election on July 4.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer sparred 05 June 2024 over tax, the cost of living and the country’s creaking health system in an inconclusive televised debate ahead of a July 4 election expected to make one of them the country's next leader. Both Starmer and Sunak appeared nervous. Voters may have got the impression their choice is between two cautious and rather dull managers. Sunak tried to boost his center-right party’s dismal outlook by urging voters to back the stability of continued Conservative government. Starmer hoped to cement his status as favorite by arguing that Britain desperately needs change. Both acknowledged the country’s many problems, from fraying public services to a broken immigration system. But neither could say outright, when asked, where the money would come from to fix them. Sunak and Starmer went head-to-head on 27 June 2024 in their last debate before an election next week, with both launching highly personal attacks over their and their parties' credibility.
Rishi Sunak, who is exceptionally wealthy, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 13 February 2020. He was previously Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 24 July 2019 to 13 February 2020, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from 9 January 2018 to 24 July 2019. He could be the first person of Asian heritage, and the first person of colour, to become prime minister and to lead a major British political party. His ascent has been unusually rapid, and he is extremely inexperienced.
The British press speculated about a potential change of leadership in the Conservative Party in the wake of Boris Johnson's apologies for participating in a boozing party on Downing Street amid the pandemic. Rishi Sunak was named as a Tory favourite. Johnson had faced a string of challenges over the last few months, including a Tory sleaze scandal, a backbench rebellion over COVID-19 rules, allegations of lockdown-breaching No 10 Christmas parties in 2020, and a Tory by-election loss in Shropshire. Piling up scandals prompted speculations that the PM might be facing a leadership challenge.
Nearly half of Conservative members thought Rishi Sunak would make better party leader than Boris Johnson. A YouGov poll of party members for Sky News revealed how the enthusiasm for Boris Johnson in the first year of his premiership was waning. A third of the Tory membership now think Mr Johnson should stand down as Tory leader. Almost 4 in 10 say they think he is doing a bad job. Members questioned whether Chancellor Rishi Sunak or Foreign Secretary Liz Truss may be a better prospect in Number 10. Asked who they want to replace Boris Johnson in the event he stands down, 33% of Tory members polled said Rishi Sunak. The results came in a YouGov poll of 1,005 Tory members for Sky News conducted between 30 December and 6 January, the first such survey since July 2020.
Asked who they want to replace Johnson in the event he stood down, only Mr Sunak and Ms Truss appear a long way ahead of possible rivals. The chancellor comes top with 33% of the vote, Ms Truss on 25%, ex-foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt 8%, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove 6%, Sajid Javid 5% and Priti Patel joint with Dominic Raab on 4%. A total of 46% of Tory members think Mr Sunak would be a better Tory leader than Mr Johnson, and only 16% worse, with identical proportions - 46% - thinking he'd do better than Mr Johnson against Labour in an election. Crucially, according to the Observer/Opinium poll over Christmas, he would do far better for the Tories in a general election than either Johnson or Truss. That finding will play massively in his favor among MPs.
His father was an NHS family GP and his mother ran her own local chemist shop. Rishi went to Winchester College and studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford University. He was also a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University (USA) where he studied for his MBA. That experience changed his life and as a result he was passionate about ensuring everybody has access to a great education. He has been a school governor, a board member of a large youth club, and have always volunteered my time to education programmes that spread opportunity.
Rishi spent his professional career before politics in business and finance, working internationally. He co-founded an investment firm working with companies in multiple geographies. He co-founded a large investment firm, working with companies from Silicon Valley to Bangalore. Then he used that experience to help small and entrepreneurial British companies grow successfully.
Rishi was elected Conservative MP for Richmond (Yorks) in May 2015 and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from June 2017 until his ministerial appointment.
Rishi is married with two young daughters. In his spare time he enjoys keeping fit, cricket, football and movies.
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