Meet Rishi Sunak the New British Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak was on Tuesday, 25 October confirmed as the United Kingdom’s new Prime Minister taking over from Mary Elizabeth Truss, who was on the job for only 44 days.

Sunak won the Conservative leadership contest after rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough backing from Members of Parliament.

Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about Rishi Sunak:

He is Rich

According to BBC, Sunak’s wife is Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Indian billionaire Narayana Murthy. Sunak himself has worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs and at two hedge funds. The Sunday Times Rich List estimates the couple’s fortune to be worth about £730 million. Sunak and Murty’s combined fortune is double the estimated £300m-£350m wealth of King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort, according to The Guardian. They own four properties spread across the world and valued at more than £15m.

His Family

Sunak is the UK’s first ever person of colour to lead the country and the first Hindu prime minister. He was born in Southampton in 1980 to Indian parents who had moved to the UK from east Africa. His father was a GP from Kenya and his mother from Tanzania her own pharmacy. He is the eldest of three children. Sunak and his wife Akshata have two daughters.

Age

At 42, Sunak is younger than every predecessor except William Pitt the Younger who became Prime Minister aged 24 and was in office from 1783 to 1801 and then again from 1804 until his death in 1806 at the age of 46.

A Fast Rise to the top

He has gone from Member of Parliament to Prime Minister in just seven years – faster than any other PM in the modern era. Pitt the Younger holds the overall record with just two years.

Could this be a new dawn for British politics? Many believe that only time will tell.