Rishi Sunak Richer Than King Charles? 5 Surprising Facts You Didn’t Know About New UK PM

While some suggested it is the time for the UK to return Kohinoor to India, others likened the new PM to Ashish Nehra, the former Indian left-arm fast bowler.

World
By Rohini Rajhansh

Indians are going gaga as Rishi Sunak becomes the new Prime Minister of United Kingdom, which colonised India for over 200 years. Internet is flooded with creative memes on Sunak. While some suggested it is the time for the UK to return Kohinoor to India, others likened the new PM to Ashish Nehra, the former Indian left-arm fast bowler.

The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of Indian origin. Sunak’s Rise as PM is a historic landmark as the Hindu descendant of immigrants from Britain’s old empire in India and East Africa will take charge of the world’s fifth largest economy.

Here are five things about the 57th Prime Minister of the UK that will leave you stunned:

Rishi Sunak is not ‘Indian’

Born in 1980 in England’s Southampton, Sunak got a degree in Philosophy from the Winchester college and then went on pursue Politics and Economic at the Oxford University followed by an MBA degree from Stanford.

He has referred himself as having “Indian roots” as his grandparents hail from India’s Punjab. According to Indian Express, Sunak’s grandfather Ramdas Sunak migrated to Nairobi, Kenya in 1935. Sunak’s father Yashveer, who was born in Nairobi in 1949, immigrated to England in 1966. He tied knot with Usha Berry who had Indian roots. Berry was the daughter of Raghubir Berry, a Punjabi who had moved to Tanganyika (today’s Tanzania), and Tanganyika-born Sraksha. Yashveer and Usha Sunak, both pharmacists, were blessed with a baby boy in 1980 and named him Rishi Sunak.

Sunak is married to Akshata Murty, daughter of the Indian billionaire NR Narayana Murthy.

Youngest Britain PM in more than 200 Years

42-year-old Sunak became the youngest PM of the United Kingdom in over 200 years. In 1783, William Pitt the Younger took charge as Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783 at age 24.

Sunak’s Rise to Power Fastest in Modern Era

Sunak was elected from the Richmond (Yorkshire) constituency in 2015. Within seven years, he took reins of the country as the Prime Minister. Before him, it was David Cameron went on to become Prime Minister from MP in nine years. He was elected to Parliament in 2001 and appointed as Prime Minister in 2010. Sunak was the Junior minister for local government in the year 2018-19. He then became the chief secretary to the Treasury in 2019-20.

Sunak then went on to become the chancellor of the exchequer in the year 2020-22. Sunak came to national attention when he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain. He won a lot of praise for rapidly introducing ‘furlough’ support schemes worth billions of pounds to preserve jobs and businesses during 18 months of Covid lockdowns.

Sunak Along with his Wife is Richer than King Charles III along with the Queen Consort

The combined fortune of Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty is estimated at £730 million, the double estimated wealth (£300 million-£350 million) of King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, according to The Guardian. The report said that Sunak and Murty is the owner of four properties spread across the world that are valued at more than £15 million. Murty’s reported to have 0.91% stake in Infosys which is worth around £700 million.

Sunak a ‘Coca-Cola Addict’

In 2021, Sunak told two school students that he was a “Coca-Cola addict”. He also said his favourite was “Mexican Coke”, The Guardian reported.

Rohini Rajhansh
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