On the day when Hindus celebrate their most important holiday, Diwali, the UK will have a Hindu prime minister for the first time. Rishi Sunak was the only remaining candidate after Penny Mordaunt’s late withdrawal. It was already clear that he had more than enough support from party members in the conservative lower house faction.

After his “crowning” as party leader, the former Treasury Secretary visits King Charles, who urges him to form a new government. Sunak will become Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months.

Rishi Sunak’s political career has been tumultuous and is already one for the record books. At 42, he is the youngest prime minister in over 200 years. With an estimated family fortune of 850 million euros, he will become the richest prime minister Britain has ever had. The former Chancellor of the Exchequer will also become the first British Prime Minister of Indian descent.

Goldman Sachs analyst

His grandparents are from the Punjab and emigrated from India to the British colonies in Africa in the last century. His father, Yashvir Sunak, was born in Kenya and his mother, Usha Sunak, in Tanganyika, which later became part of modern-day Tanzania. In the 1960s they moved to the UK where Rishi Sunak was born on May 12, 1980 in Southampton.

His father was a general practitioner and his mother started a successful pharmacy which enabled them to send their son to the prestigious Winchester College boarding school. Sunak studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University.

After a second degree at Stanford University, he earned his first millions in the financial industry. First as an analyst for Goldman Sachs and later for several hedge funds. He owes his enormous wealth to his marriage to Akshata Murthy. She comes from a billionaire family from India.

maintain business course

His political career is remarkably short for someone who is already prime minister. In 2015 he was elected to the House of Commons as a representative of the Richmond constituency in North Yorkshire. Four years later, Boris Johnson appointed him Chancellor of the Exchequer, the most powerful post in British government post-Premiership.

Johnson and Sunak are said to regularly clash over fiscal policy. Johnson wanted to open his wallet more times than Sunak would have liked, and the squabbling played a role in Sunak’s resignation last June. His resignation heralded the downfall of Boris Johnson.

Under Sunak, the British government will pursue a conservative economic course. His priorities are fighting inflation and restoring public finances. Unlike his predecessor Truss, he only wants to lower taxes if the budget and the economic situation allow it.

Reaction markets first test

This conservative approach cost him the Prime Minister’s office in September. In the leadership elections, conservative party members were not exactly enthusiastic about his economic plans. They were seduced by Liz Truss’ promise to cut taxes, which Sunak called reckless. The Truss administration’s lightning-fast implosion has cemented Sunak’s credibility.

But he faces a Herculean task. He inherits a deeply divided party and a country headed for a deep recession. Will he be able to reunite his party and steer the economy into calmer waters? It will not be easy.

The energy crisis has caused serious difficulties for millions of British households. The radical tax plan of its predecessor, Truss, created a crisis on top of an existing one. The first test will be the markets reaction to his appointment.

No honeymoon

Some of his party members and Conservative supporters still see him as a traitor who tripped their beloved Boris Johnson. In the polls, the Conservatives are miles behind the opposition Labor Party, which has been calling for new parliamentary elections for weeks.

In addition, Sunak is not without controversy. His wife was discredited last year when it was revealed she doesn’t pay taxes on her millions of dollars in the UK. Also, until late last year, Sunak appeared to have a United States residency permit. It raised questions about how loyal he was to his country.

In any case, honeymoons are not granted to him as Prime Minister.