Rishi Sunak

The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak MP
Official portrait, 2022
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 July 2024
Monarch	Charles III
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Keir Starmer
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 October 2022
Preceded by	Liz Truss
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 25 October 2022 – 5 July 2024
Monarch	Charles III
Deputy	Dominic Raab Oliver Dowden
Preceded by	Liz Truss
Succeeded by	Keir Starmer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 13 February 2020 – 5 July 2022
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Sajid Javid
Succeeded by	Nadhim Zahawi
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 24 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime Minister	Boris Johnson
Preceded by	Liz Truss
Succeeded by	Steve Barclay
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government
In office 9 January 2018 – 24 July 2019
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Preceded by	Marcus Jones
Succeeded by	Luke Hall
Member of Parliament for Richmond and Northallerton Richmond (Yorks) (2015–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2015
Preceded by	William Hague
Majority	12,185 (25.1%)[1]
Personal details
Born	(1980-05-12) 12 May 1980 (age 44) Southampton, Hampshire, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Akshata Murty ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Relatives	N. R. Narayana Murthy (father-in-law) Sudha Murty (mother-in-law) Rohan Murty (brother-in-law)
Education	Winchester College University of Oxford (BA) Stanford University (MBA)
Signature
Website	rishisunak.com
Rishi Sunak's voice Sunak's first speech as prime minister Recorded 25 October 2022

Rishi Sunak^[a] (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. He has been Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022; after the 2024 general election, he became Leader of the Opposition. The first British Asian prime minister, he previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, latterly as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2020 to 2022. Sunak served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorks) from 2015 to 2024, and following boundary changes has been MP for Richmond and Northallerton since 2024.

Sunak was born in Southampton to parents of Indian descent who immigrated to Britain from East Africa in the 1960s. He was educated at Winchester College, studied philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and earned a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University in California as a Fulbright Scholar. During his time at Oxford University, Sunak undertook an internship at Conservative Central Office, and joined the Conservatives. After graduating, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms the Children's Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners. Sunak was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election. As a backbencher, Sunak supported the successful campaign for Brexit in the 2016 European Union membership referendum. Sunak was appointed to a junior ministerial position by Theresa May in 2019, and was appointed chief secretary to the Treasury by Boris Johnson in 2019.

In 2020, Sunak was promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer. During his time in the position, Sunak was prominent in the government's financial response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impact, including the furlough and Eat Out to Help Out schemes. He received high approval ratings as chancellor, although his popularity later declined amid the cost-of living crisis. Sunak resigned as chancellor in July 2022 amid a government crisis that culminated in Johnson's resignation, and stood in the leadership election to succeed him. He received the most votes in each of the series of MP votes, but lost the members' vote to Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. After spending the duration of Truss's premiership on the backbenches, Sunak was elected unopposed in the leadership election to succeed Truss, who resigned amid another government crisis; aged 42 at the time he became prime minister, Sunak became the youngest prime minister since Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, in 1812.

During his premiership, Sunak attempted to improve the economy and stabilise national politics. He outlined five key priorities: halving inflation, growing the economy, cutting debt, reducing NHS waiting lists, and stopping the illegal small-boat crossings of the English Channel; many of these pledges and policy announcements went unfulfilled.^[4] On foreign policy, Sunak authorised foreign aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion of the country, and pledged support for Israel after the 7 October attacks which began the Israel–Hamas war whilst later calling for a ceasefire following the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. He did not avert further unpopularity for the Conservatives, reflected in the party's poor performances in the 2023 and 2024 local elections. Sunak called a snap general election for July 2024 despite being widely expected to call the election in the autumn; the Conservatives lost this election in a landslide to the opposition Labour Party led by Keir Starmer, ending 14 years of Conservative rule. After Starmer succeeded Sunak as prime minister, Sunak became Leader of the Opposition and has remained Conservative leader while the leadership election to replace him is taking place, forming a shadow cabinet.

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