Things to know about UK’s 57th PM

– Rishi Sunak was born in Southampton, England, in 1980, and was educated in Winchester College, a private boarding school, and at the University of Oxford.

– The Prime Minister’s family was Punjabi Khatri, with roots in Gujranwala, Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. Sunak’s grandfather, Ramdas Sunak, migrated to Kenya.

– He is the first Prime Minister of Britain who is a practising Hindu. (He has been doing gau-puja while on campaign.) He will also be the first person of colour to be PM.

– His rise to power has been the fastest in the modern era. Sunak first became MP (of Richmond, Yorks) in May 2015, and he became PM in October 2022.

– He is Britain’s youngest PM in more than 200 years. Sunak is only 42.

– He and his wife Akshata Murty are richer than King Charles III (along with the Queen Consort). The combined fortune of Sunak and his wife (daughter of N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys) is estimated at £730 million, which is double the estimated wealth (£300 million-£350 million) of King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort.

– Sunak is a Coca-Cola addict. Sunak told two school pupils in March 2021 that he “collects Coca-Cola things”, and that he was “a Coke addict,…a total Coke addict”. As the children sniggered, he rushed to clarify, “Coca-Cola addict, just for the record.”

Image courtesy of (Graphic courtesy: PA Graphics)

Share this post