Rishi Sunak

Created: 2023-02-19
Status: #soil
Last Edited: 2023-02-19
Topic: people #people

Who is Rishi Sunak?

Rishi Sunak is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2020. He is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond (Yorkshire). Sunak was appointed to the position of Chancellor by Prime Minister Boris Johnson following the resignation of Sajid Javid, becoming the first person of Indian descent to hold one of the four Great Offices of State in British history.

Sunak was born in Southampton and grew up in Oxfordshire and Surrey. His parents are both doctors originally from India, and he attended Winchester College before studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. After university, he worked as a management consultant before joining Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, where he worked for 11 years.

Sunak was elected to parliament in 2015, representing Richmond (Yorkshire). During his time in parliament he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government under Theresa May's government. In 2019 he was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury by Johnson and held the position until his appointment as Chancellor in 2020.

As Chancellor, Sunak has been responsible for overseeing major economic policy decisions during COVID-19 such as extending furlough payments and introducing loan schemes to help businesses stay afloat during lockdowns. He has also proposed major reforms to taxation such as increasing corporation tax from 19% to 25%.