Who is Britain's next Prime Minister Rishi Sunak?

Rishi Sunak is set to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom after winning the leadership race in the wake of Liz Truss' departure.

The 42-year-old politician will be Britain's youngest prime minister in more than a century, the country's first nonwhite and Asian leader and the first Hindu to take the job.

Who is Rishi Sunak?

Sunak is the son of a doctor and pharmacist of Indian origin, who migrated to the UK via Africa. He was born in Southampton, Hampshire, and received private education at Winchester, one of Britain's top boarding schools. An alumnus of Oxford University and Stanford University, he worked for Goldman Sachs before entering politics.

Sunak is married to Akshata Murthy, the daughter of Narayana Murthy, who is an Indian billionaire and the co-founder of IT services company, Infosys. The couple have two daughters.

As a Hindu, Sunak took his oath to be a member of paliament on the Bhagavad Gita — a holy scripture in the religion. In a past interview, he had said he was also a devotee of Southampton FC soccer club. "In terms of cultural upbringing, I'd be at the temple at the weekend — I'm a Hindu — but I'd also be at the Saints game (Southampton) as well on a Saturday. You do everything, you do both."

Sunak is one of Westminster's wealthiest politicians and came under enormous pressure earlier this year after revelations that his wife avoided paying taxes on her overseas income.  

How did he get here?

Sunak entered politics in 2015, taking over the safe Conservative seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire.

After his early support of Brexit, former Prime Minister Theresa May gave Sunak his first job in government in 2018 as a junior minister for local government, parks and troubled families.

In 2019, Boris Johnson appointed him to the treasury, where he soon took over from Sajid Javid as finance minister, just as the COVID pandemic erupted. He served in this position until July 2022.

As finance minister, Sunak quickly assembled a vast economic support package, putting the country on track for its biggest tax burden since the 1950s. He raised public spending, but promised more discipline and to cut waste.

He now says this spending must be paid off with sound fiscal plans.

Sunak lost out to Liz Truss in the leadership race in September following Boris Johnson's resignation. After Truss herself stepped down just six weeks later, Sunak quickly gained the support of many lawmakers who had previously backed either Truss or Johnson.

He was vindicated after warning that Truss' economic plans would backfire — which they did, spectacularly.

What are his immediate challenges?

Sunak faces multiple economic and political crises, with the country facing an economically toxic combination of recession and rising interest rates.

The economic program of his predecessor Truss has roiled financial markets, pushed up living costs for voters and enraged much of her own party and the public.

A costly energy price guarantee and billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts have since been rolled back, but the damage has been done, with the Bank of England forced into emergency bond-buying to stem a sharp sell-off in Britain's $2.3 trillion government bond market.

He told Conservative lawmakers that his first priority is to deliver economic stability and unite the party. The Conservative Party has a large majority in parliament but is deeply divided on key issues such as Brexit and immigration as well as economic management.

To achieve economic stability, he will likely oversee spending cuts and tax rises as vulnerable households struggle through a painful financial squeeze, with increasing mortgage costs, as well as rising food, heating and fuel prices caused by the war in Ukraine and other global factors.

Any tax hikes will be strongly opposed by some in the party; while others will oppose spending cuts in key areas like health and defense.

He also faces personal challenges, with many in the party seeing him as disloyal for triggering the downfall of Johnson in July and being out of touch with struggling Britons.

Other pressing issues include ongoing negotiations with the European Union over trade with Northern Ireland, and acting on government promises to control immigration.

aw, tg/rt (AFP, Reuters, AP)