In less than two months, Britain has a third prime minister.
On the 24th local time, the results of the election for the leader of the British ruling Conservative Party were released. Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, the only candidate, was automatically elected as the new leader of the British Conservative Party, and he will replace Elizabeth Truss, who resigned after only 45 days in office, as Prime Minister.
Sunak, 42, is the youngest leader in recent British history and the first Asian-American prime minister. With the leap of career, his background as an Indian immigrant, the identity of a rich wife, and the experience of "backstabbing" Johnson have been repeatedly discussed by competitors and the media. Sunak's entry into Downing Street was probably one of the most turbulent periods in British political history.
Genetically Indian immigrants, de facto British middle class
Sunak was born in 1980 to an Indian immigrant family in Southampton, England.
His grandfather was born in Punjab during the British Indian period and later moved to East Africa; His parents were born in British Kenya and Tanganyika and moved to the UK against the backdrop of anti-Indian sentiment and subsequently worked in the British healthcare system. His father was a general practitioner and his mother was a pharmacist and ran an independent pharmacy.
From the perspective of growth path, the "second generation" Sunak is a typical British middle class.
He attended Winchester College, one of the most expensive boarding schools in the UK. This top private school has produced at least six British chancellors, including Fok Qigang, Wang Sicong and Ho Youjun. The current tuition fee for boarders is about 43,300 pounds a year (about 368,000 yuan).
He went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University – a subject that many British prime ministers studied. In 2001, Sunak graduated from Oxford with first place in his major and joined the investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst for three years. Yes, before entering politics, Sunak was a financial elite, and in addition to his resume as an analyst, he also dabbled in the hedge fund industry.
In 2004, at the age of 24, Sunak took a Fulbright scholarship to Stanford University, a top university in the United States, to pursue an MBA.
A rich man's career leap: his wife is richer than the queen
While studying at Stanford, Sunak met his current wife, Akshata Murty. Her father is Narayana Murthy, an Indian billionaire and IT services magnate. Known as the "Bill Gates of India", Narayana founded Infosys Technology, the first Indian company listed in the United States. As of April 2022, his net worth is approximately $4.4 billion.
Aqshata owns 0.91% of Infosys, which were worth around £690 million in April, making Aqshata one of the richest women in the UK. Queen Elizabeth II's wealth before her death was about $420 million, and Sunak's wife was even richer than the queen.
Mr. and Mrs. Sunak
On the Sunday Times rich list released in May, the Sunaks ranked 222nd with a combined fortune of £730 million. They own four properties in London's wealthy districts and California, and Sunak has been called "the first front-line politician to enter the rich list."
In 2015, Sunak stepped into politics after being elected to Conservative Party parliament. Like many of Britain's budding politicians, Sunak was a staunch Brexiteer who quickly gained the appreciation of Theresa May and took up key positions in government. After Boris came to power, Sunak was appointed chief secretary to the Treasury, became a member of the Privy Council, and entered the inner circle of British politics.
In February 2020, the 39-year-old Sunak was pushed to the position of finance minister by chance, becoming one of the youngest chancellors in British history. But his resignation from the cabinet of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this year triggered the fall of Johnson's government, prompting some in the party to accuse Sunak of treachery.
For Sunak, the controversy to enter Downing Street is probably not only "backstab" Boris. As mentioned above, Sunak's wealth background is difficult not to be discussed. In April 2022, some media exposed the operation of Sunak's wife Akshata to use "non-British citizens" to evade taxes, causing public outcry.
More importantly, the Internet has memories. A 2007 BBC documentary showed the wealthy Sunak saying "I have no working-class friends." Other Conservatives have been quoted by foreign media as saying Sunak is too rich to understand the increasing daily economic pressures in Britain.
Ready for Rishi？？？
In July, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak resigned from Johnson's government on the grounds of "loss of confidence" and quickly campaigned for Conservative Party leadership. As we all later learned, Sunak lost 14 percent by a 14 percent vote difference with Truss, who became prime minister and resigned 45 days later.
The prime minister, who has gone around in circles, may be testimony to the old adage, "He who should come will come".
The July campaign was held, and the slogan put forward by the Sunak team was "Get ready for Rishi!" （Ready for Rishi）”。 Now, Rishi Sunak is the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; But the United Kingdom he faced was in a difficult and turbulent period.
The combination of soaring natural gas prices, supply chain disruptions and manpower shortages has severely impacted UK economic and social life. According to the Office for National Statistics, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 10.1% year-on-year in September, returning to a 40-year high.
Reuters said the next prime minister would take over an economic environment doomed to recession, with rising interest rates, inflation of more than 10 percent and millions of people facing a squeeze on the cost of living. Economic problems will be the first hurdle for Sunak. But Sunak has experience in dealing with economic crises. During the pandemic, he introduced a series of economic support policies that were also seen as an important reason to avoid mass unemployment in the UK.
On the campaign trail this summer, Sunak said he would cut taxes only when Britain got inflation under control. While he also gave a vision of lowering the income tax rate from 20 percent to 16 percent, he also stressed that it is "unlikely to happen before 2029."
Regarding Sunak's other policy orientations, like Truss, Sunak has pledged to streamline the civil service and promote the construction of a "low-tax free port". On housing policy, Sunak said he would pressure developers to build homes faster as a way to build a "next-generation Conservative vote bank." Since Sunak has only held positions in the direction of domestic affairs, his diplomatic resume is in a blank state. But on the campaign trail, he said he would largely continue Britain's current foreign policy direction.
Sunak has announced that his top priority as prime minister is to repair the economy, with the overarching goal of filling the £40 billion "spending black hole" as soon as possible. On Monday, he told lawmakers in parliament, "We need stability and unity now, and I will make the unity of the party and the country my top priority." ”